Anyone despair for our Diabetic American cousins . . . price of insulin

[Ronancastled]

I follow a few different diabetic forums which obviously I won't advertise here.
The one I'll mention though as it's relevant to my post is the Reddit which features the plight of many American diabetics.
Forking out 1,000s a month for insulin, losing their health insurance & having to rely on Wallmart generic and many cases of deaths caused by going without.
I'm Irish & like those on the NHS once we receive a certain long term illness card all our prescriptions are covered by the state.

I'd seriously consider emigrating were I an American diabetic.

 

[sleepster]

I remember reading not so long ago that something like 20-25% of diabetic Americans were rationing their insulin. It's disgusting and infuriating and honestly when people share their stories it makes me want to cry.

 

[LaoDan]

It’s a disaster, I went home to visit family, tried to buy test strips at Walgreens, 3x the price. I said forget it.

if you live in the USA, you can order online from Canada. Not sure about insulin though.

edit. I have to self pay for everything in Singapore, since my insurance has a $2500 deductible. Luckily healthcare is cheap. I can get an A1c and doc consultation for $75. Same day premium service lol

 

[Riva_Roxaban]

Forking out 1,000s a month for insulin, losing their health insurance & having to rely on Wallmart generic and many cases of deaths caused by going without.

Walmart prices.

The products will be available at Walmart pharmacies this week and at Sam's Club pharmacies across the U.S. by mid-July. Like the brand-name Novolog, they will also be manufactured by Novo Nordisk and will require a prescription.

The new product will cost $72.88 per vial and $85.88 for a package of FlexPens. This represents savings of 58% to 75% off the cash price of branded analog products, or up to $101 per branded vial and $251 per FlexPens package, according to the company.

Walmart's other ReliOn insulins — NPH, Regular, and 70/30 mix — are all human insulin rather than analog insulin,and sell for about $25 a vial. The similar apid-acting lispro analog insulin (Admelog, Sanofi) retails for about $150 a vial.

Here's the price for insulin in Australia from a a cheap pharmacy, the $40.00 price quoted are the PBS price, if you have a concession card it is drops to $5.60.

https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/search?searchtext=insulin&fh=1

One type of insulin showing all prices for the stuff.

https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au...x-5---insulin-aspart-insulin-aspart-protamine

The drug company's have certainly got the Americans by the short and curlies.

 

[EllieM]

I remember reading not so long ago that something like 20-25% of diabetic Americans were rationing their insulin. It's disgusting and infuriating and honestly when people share their stories it makes me want to cry.

Especially when Banting and Best sold their US insulin patent to the university of Toronto for $2 so that insulin could be available for all.

Something wrong with the system when members of the richest country in the world have to travel to Mexico to get their life saving medication.... (Not casting aspersions on Mexico.)

 

[TooSweetForMe]

I can offer a unique perspective, as an American on Insulin (premix at the moment but will be changing to basal/bolus in about a month or 2 - when my new insulin comes in from the drug company) The clinic I go to is based on income, and they also help you get your medicines for little to no cost. I can't work as I am my Mom's full-time caregiver and live with her. The clinic has me fill out paperwork to that effect every six months. The only down side to it is having to wait for refills from the drug company - but if I can get 3 months of insulin for $5 I can deal with it.

 

[NicoleC1971]

If pharma charges Medicare/Medicaid anything like those 'off shelf' prices this has to be unsustainable.
I have great sympathy for those who don't have the security of knowing they have the insulin they need but it is frustrating that these type 2s seem to have no alternative options or support offered. It has now been demonstrated that there are at least 3 ways to avoid becoming insulin dependant as type 2 e.g. bariatric surgery, the Newcastle Diet (admittedly this study didn't take on insulin dependent type 2s but the principle of reversal applies still) and the low carb diet (Virta Health did get their participants off insulin).
Not saying it is easy but these options are possible in Standard of Care and there are growing numbers of doctors applying them so there's a little hope.
Must be a good time to invest in Lilly, NovoNordisk but is the US system really so corrupt that they aren't considering a dietary approach that would likely get people off statins and blood pressure medications too?
This is really a rhetorical question but I'd be interested to know of American insulin users' experiences with being offered options other than insulin therapy to treat their type 2 diabetes?