Well said, @Roger212. Health care policy that is distracted from giving the best care possible to all patients results in the health care inequities seen in the US.
There is a strong libertarian presence here, people who only see life through a meritocratic lens.
I think countries like Canada have a better health policy than the US. In fact, health care systems like the one used in Canada costs way less per person than the US. I’m hoping that the cost argument will break through and finally convince this entrenched constituency that voting their pocketbook will surprisingly align them with people across the political spectrum. Now, I’ve gone and used the P word!
The divide between left and right on this issue amazes me. Nixon expanded medicare to cover dialysis because it was the right thing to do, and correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the ACA mandate a Republican idea? There are alternatives to the Canadian and British models which work very well for certain countries, such as in Israel or Singapore, where as far as I know there is more private-sector involvement but still plenty of government regulation and universal coverage.
My personal objection is not to universal coverage and access. I think that would be great! My objection is to a universal requirement to purchase insurance, which in my opinion is the culprit that drove the prices out of the reach of the individual in the first place
I think the problem though is there can’t be universal coverage without a mandate that everyone purchase insurance or a single-payer system, since insurance companies can’t deny high-risk people or discriminate the way that auto insurance companies can, for example. I don’t fully understand the ACA. I think Israel has a similar system but there are only 4 insurance companies, a smaller population and I don’t know if there are private hospitals, so it works there.
Seriously, why is that a reason to post that junk depicting the symbol of one of the deadliest ideologies in the history of mankind, accompanied by men bearing machine guns?
Health care is and has always been much worse in communist cesspools.
No, I don’t live in the US, nor would I like to live under the US health care system.
As a Canadian I definitely agree with that posting,.
It makes sense too just by looking at the basic math. In Canada there is one basic health care insurance provider in each province = a total of 10 administrations. In the US, how many health insurance companies are there? Would not surprise me if they are in the hundreds. Each company has its own offices, a full set of employees from the janitor and receptionist up to the company CEO, and shareholders insisting the company mark up their services to guarantee dividends for shareholders. All that overhead which would be redundant in Canada is added to the cost of healthcare which is paid for either by employers, taxpayers or the patients.
So no surprise that the US has one of the least cost effective health care systems on the planet.
Wonder if we will lose our drug coverage after the next election. While quebec gets 13 billion dollars from us and pees on the idea of an eastern pipe line. We should pull the old Quebecquois trick and threaten separation.
If you’re in the US, think about buying from canada. I haven’t tried with insulin (my insurance covers it), but I need a brand-name GSK epilepsy medication I’ve used for 17 years. My insurance took it off their formulary and won’t cover it, even with a “do not substitue” script from my neurologist. I tried generics three years ago and had breakthrough seizures. In the US my out of pocket cost would be between $35K and $45K per year! (GSK won’t offer subsidizes for my situation).
I now use a Canadian pharmacy recommended by my Neurologist. I’m not his only patient with this problem. Cost for the drug sourced from GSK Canada or EU is about $4K per year. Source from GSK in India is about $1200/year. Can you imagine, the same drug from the same manufacturer with such a different cost across the globe? There’s something wrong with the US healthcare system.
Mayo clinic lost their mind over not being able to get access to common generic anticonvulsants (spelling?). They have decided to start manufacturing their own drugs. Yea, Mayo!!!
The average person doesn’t exist. The median price of homes that sold in New Jersey is $282,800. In Alabama the median home value in Alabama is $129,800. That’s a $120,000 difference. So I think you have to be careful about making claims about what is in reach of the average person.
I agree with you and glad that Senator is doing something. Not only our pharmaceutical are robbing us, our AMA-doctor-pharma-court nexus is robbing us of common sense treatment that doctors would prescribe if they were not afraid of following protocols to avoid mal practise law suites.
Example: I was prescribed long acting insulin when my A1c just touched 7, courtesy of Dr Bernstein of NY. One friend was taking long acting insulin for 20 years with A1c staying around 6. Before Dr Bernstein, I saw many traditional doctor in Michigan and they WILL NOT prescribe lantus. Their reasoning was a) my numbers were not bad enough, b) what they did not tell me that protocol was not to prescribe insulin until a1c reaches 8-9. At these levels are beta cells in pancreas are burned and one basically has type 1 diabetes. What the traditional doctors were telling me to wait till my diabetes is in no-return position. Dr Bernstein tested my pancreas, and after he found that some of my beta cells were still active. He said," The long acting insulin will give the needed rest to pancreas so remaining beta cells will not be damaged". It worked and after 10 years of lantus, my A1c is between 6.2-6.6. Dr bernstein saved my life style, or else I may be amputated by now. I have only taken 5-6 units of lantus for 10 years.
I urge all prediabetics and all whose a1c is below 8, should test their insulin production and try to restore the undamaged cell by taking lantus. There is test for insulin production ,C-peptide.
Last but not the least, please walk 30-45 minutes after every meal. If working, please go to rest room and do 10 situps, stop, and do 10 again, stop and 10 again. This will shave 50 points from your peak sugar reading and help protect the organs.
For inspiration, at 73, I have no cataract, no kidney issue so far. I try walking after every meal. This tip was also from Dr Bernstein. Flatenning the peak sugar reading is really a powerful tool to keep side effects of diabetes manageable.
I hope I am of some help to some body.
Move further east of GTA Scott … I had to move from Montreal to Ontario in order to at least get my insulin pump covered by the province here … along with that cheaper housing prices in the small town of Cornwall (but way better health care then in Montreal). I have no health insurance, and pay out of pocket (I’m a contract worker) - so may take up pole dancing soon (good exercise) - to help pay for CGM (Dexcom G4), etc. At least here in Canada our “healthcare” is covered by our income taxes, but in the end when comparing both USA/Canada healthcare … and the costs … in the end all being ripped off one way or another for a disease we didn’t ask to have dumped on us. right?
Happy New Year everyone - and let’s hope that one day insulin prices all over the world (not just the USA - I can say this after travelling in Asia for past month - meeting up with diabetics along the route - it’s not easy for everyone).
I want to join in here. A lot of our high prices are from pharmacy/supplier markups. I had insurance through a large city employer who started a private at cost pharmacy. All cost of doing business were covered by employer so pharmacy had no mark-up. Our typical drugs cost us about 1.50$ to 3.00$ where at Walgreens etc. 50. $ plus. Don’t know about diabetic drug costs, they had a diabetic care program that I was in that covered 100% of my diabetes cost. Never paid for anything even footware, creams ando such. Sure do miss it.
