CBS shared a story of one mother’ son who died from an insulin coma due to high insulin cost here in the United States. That’s not okay.
Insulin is not an option.
Let’s stop pretending, or ignoring, that it’s ok for the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies to gain profits on the backs of those who can’t afford it. Insulin, and insulin supplies, are a life saving must for those with diabetes. Diabetics do not have a choice.
Young people are struggling to get started when they have a life long disease. As one poor mother explained after her son fell into a coma and died because he couldn’t afford his insulin.
This is criminal.
The Market Place
Lets chat about Obama care and the hyped up Market Place. It only works when they actually get files, dates and relationships worked out with their insurance companies. Yes, the Market Place is a middle man. They do their best but often times they don’t do it well.
Surprise!
And when they don’t get it right, guess what, the insurance companies don’t cover the high medical costs and that includes prescriptions. Even though this mother, me, paid them almost two hundred a month, on my credit card automatically since my son signed up in September who is in school, working part time, to make sure his healthcare is affordable.
Oh, wait for it, phone calls, three way calls, and frustrating appeals have done nothing to change the status. They continued to get paid but covered nothing. And my son sits in insurance limbo, the life saving insulin unaffordable if he did not have family support. It saddens me to think about how many people this impacts causing irreplaceable harm.
Shopping for Insulin
The price for insulin at CVS, Walgreens, Target, Walmart and other pharmacies are all about the same. Trust me we’ve checked. There are pharmaceutical discounts for insulin with online coupons – but you have to look. Novolog, the insulin my son uses in his pump, is discounted to a generous $300 a vial. When you need 4 vials a month it adds ups to a pretty penny. I appreciate the pharmacists who have also helped identify coupons and discounts trying to get the cost down.
After reading the stories about others struggling I had an honest, and fearful, conversation with my kid about figuring it out and how I will continue to pay for his medicine. I don’t want to wake up one day finding him in a coma, or worse, all because he can’t afford the astronomical cost of insulin.
My heart goes out to anyone who has suffered this terrible disease and the treatment costs. Let’s do something about it.
Get Involved
Make insulin affordable. Sign the ๐ ๐๐พ๐๐๐ผ๐บ๐ Diabetes Associationโs petition.
Let’s make a difference.
Sending you love and happiness. โค๏ธ
One thought on “Deaths Due to High Cost of Insulin for Those Caught Uninsured”