Practically free in Belgium, I really think Europe is 3 steps ahead in healthcare
Even in Brazil, a third world country, you can get insulin for Free.
Woman says her son couldn't afford his insulin – now he's dead
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Re: Woman says her son couldn't afford his insulin – now he's dead
#22Uncontrolled type-2 diabetes is no joke. I had a Danish neighbor growing up who worked for Spectra-Physics and had an RX-7 (Wankel) back in the day. After he retired, he got diabetes but didn't take insulin with uncontrolled blood sugar over 400-700 mg/dL. He lost his vision, feet and went from mildly unhealthy to dead under in two years. He was never obese that I recall.
If someone were broke as in the story, but determined to get life-survival medication no matter what in the US: get rid of all of their property and assets except one vehicle and one house, and get Medicaid. If someone became disabled from a non-work-related condition, there is Medicare SSDI... and they may also qualify for Medicaid. The reason to get rid of property are two-fold: there are maximum qualification limits and bankruptcy would take it. A bankruptcy lawyer costs $2000-4000 FYI.
Re: Woman says her son couldn't afford his insulin – now he's dead
#23Practically free in Belgium, I really think Europe is 3 steps ahead in healthcare
One of my friends moved back to China because of the cost of health care.
It was ironic because his parents basically gave up everything to immigrate to the US.
Re: Woman says her son couldn't afford his insulin – now he's dead
#24Could someone in this situation steal insulin & claim self defense?
Re: Woman says her son couldn't afford his insulin – now he's dead
#25Blame republicans. This is all by their design. Every other country has figured this out and the conservatives in those countries mostly support universal healthcare. America needs to vote out republicans for a generation and get America caught up to the rest of the developed world.
Not a single republican was responsible for foisting the ACA on America, the ACA is big reason why insulin is so expensive.
Re: Woman says her son couldn't afford his insulin – now he's dead
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just a little life pro-tip: Even if you view 'the other side' as horrible murderers for profit, you should tone down your viewpoint when talking publicly because you will not convince anyone of your viewpoint by saying these people are horrible murderers for profit.
reality stings
Sure, but my advice was only on how to better persuade people, not how to better bash the truth into their skulls.
Re: Woman says her son couldn't afford his insulin – now he's dead
#27One thing worth trying if you are in this situation is to go to a university or research hospital and volunteer as a research subject, if you can find someone who is researching your particular problem. This worked for a friend of mine who needed anti-psychotic medication when he was uninsured.
Re: Woman says her son couldn't afford his insulin – now he's dead
#28Blame republicans. This is all by their design. Every other country has figured this out and the conservatives in those countries mostly support universal healthcare. America needs to vote out republicans for a generation and get America caught up to the rest of the developed world.
This ignores the Clinton wing of the party, which votes with the Republicans on these sorts of issues that impact the pockets of the large political donors.
>BERNIE SANDERS INTRODUCED a very simple symbolic amendment Wednesday night, urging the federal government to allow Americans to purchase pharmaceutical drugs from Canada, where they are considerably cheaper. Such unrestricted drug importation is currently prohibited by law.
The Senate voted down the amendment 52-46, with two senators not voting. Unusually, the vote was not purely along party lines: 13 Republicans joined Sanders and a majority of Democrats in supporting the amendment, while 13 Democrats and a majority of Republicans opposed it.
https://theintercept.com/2017/01/12/cory-booker-joins-senate...
Re: Woman says her son couldn't afford his insulin – now he's dead
#29This sounds like an issue with medical/financial literacy or possibly mental illness, which are also serious. The self-pay price is discounted and can get really low with the manufacturer coupons/rebates or the one pharmacy chains scan for you if you’re uninsured. Generics are available; they are not as error-proof as, e.g., Tresiba, but they would have saved his life. Switching from pens to vials saves money. Please…
I had this problem during six months of self-employment. I found that the cheapest way to get good insulin (Novolog) is to fly to Bangkok / Chiang Mai and hit up all the pharmacies until you have a year's supply. If you're not unlucky, you shouldn't have a problem at the airports. I think it cost ~$25-35 USD for several pen cartridges of Novolog.
You don't even need to go that far for cheap insulin. I'm a type 1 diabetic in Seattle, and I've gone to Canada a few times for ~$25-$30/vial USD of Humalog (Novolog is also available) insulin. It's over the counter there, and I've never had an issue with US customs bringing up to a year supply back home.
Re: Woman says her son couldn't afford his insulin – now he's dead
#30When you drill down to the detail story (click the name link), you see that Alex chose to go without insurance altogether despite his state (MN) having an ACA exchange with fully subsidized plans.
Neither mentions where he got his prescription from after being off the parents plan, if he pursued one at all.