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The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

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Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#21

Post by dragonwriter »

deadbabe wrote: post #2

Can someone please explain the economics of GLP-1s? How can people pay $1000/month for the rest of their life, just to keep weight off? Rent and mortgages are already insane as is, and then there’s insurance, kids, etc.

> How can people pay $1000/month for the rest of their life

No one actually pays that price. The $1000 misrepresented in the article as the "usual insurance price" is actually the list price, from which insurers negotiate discounts (that is, the full price -- not just the out of pocket price charged to the insured -- for insured patients is significantly less than that $1000 price), while most people who get the drug outside of insurance get it through some program (if it is the actual, brand-name drug, run by the manufacturer) that also charges much less than the list price.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#22

Post by alabastervlog »

oatmeal_croc wrote: post #3
deadbabe wrote: post #2

Can someone please explain the economics of GLP-1s? How can people pay $1000/month for the rest of their life, just to keep weight off? Rent and mortgages are already insane as is, and then there’s insurance, kids, etc.

Few people actually pay 1000/month. Most get it through insurance (I pay 25/month), and most of the remaining get it through compounding pharmacies like HenryMeds which comes out to 300-400 per month. In fact, I know a few people who get brand pills (Rybelsus) mailed from India, where it's much cheaper. This insane pricing is a US only thing.

Further, as noted in TFA, it’s possible to get higher doses at the same or almost the same price, though a compounding pharmacy, because pricing is basically the same no matter the dose (the materials are dirt cheap, the drug is very cheap to make, so they sell “the drug’s effect at however much you need” not “this amount of the drug”, basically) and then stretch it by taking smaller amounts than prescribed, or split a prescription with someone else.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#24

Post by wozniacki »

unsnap_biceps wrote: post #13
wewewedxfgdf wrote: post #6

I'm far from convinced that some random "compounding pharmacy" produces effectively the same thing as Ozempic.

Compounding pharmacies existed before Ozempic and their entire business model is producing custom drugs at reasonable prices. For Ozempic, they order the GLP-1 peptides from a large Pharma company and then mix it to order with bacteriostatic water and any other additives. Mine includes a B-12 compound that is attempting to help with the weight loss. They are highly regulated and require trained and licensed employees…

Is there a compounding pharmacy aggregator online youve found trustworthy?

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#25

Post by timewizard »

alabastervlog wrote: post #19
deadbabe wrote: post #2

Can someone please explain the economics of GLP-1s? How can people pay $1000/month for the rest of their life, just to keep weight off? Rent and mortgages are already insane as is, and then there’s insurance, kids, etc.

1) Any number of ways, they don’t pay that much. Or, 2) They’re rich. Not even that rich. I mean hell we paid $1,500/month for two kids to go to preschool, for years, and that sucked but we could still save. And we had a household income of like $130k or so at the time. Doing fine, not saying we didn’t have alright income, but not that uncommon. Now imagine a two-FAANG income like many folks on here. $1,000/month, ev…

> but not that uncommon

Taking in nearly double over the average household income is, by definition, uncommon.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#26

Post by toast0 »

bsder wrote: post #20
deadbabe wrote: post #2

Can someone please explain the economics of GLP-1s? How can people pay $1000/month for the rest of their life, just to keep weight off? Rent and mortgages are already insane as is, and then there’s insurance, kids, etc.

People who need statins are on them for the rest of their life. People who need blood pressure regulators are on them for the rest of their life. Why should GLP-1s be any different?

There are a lot of very inexpensive statins and blood pressure drugs (not all of them, of course).

$1000/month seems like a lot. Although if you end up eating significantly less, there's some savings there.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#27

Post by scarab92 »

dragonwriter wrote: post #21
deadbabe wrote: post #2

Can someone please explain the economics of GLP-1s? How can people pay $1000/month for the rest of their life, just to keep weight off? Rent and mortgages are already insane as is, and then there’s insurance, kids, etc.

> How can people pay $1000/month for the rest of their life No one actually pays that price. The $1000 misrepresented in the article as the "usual insurance price" is actually the list price, from which insurers negotiate discounts (that is, the full price -- not just the out of pocket price charged to the insured -- for insured patients is significantly less than that $1000 price), while most people who get the drug…

It seems like the entire US medical system runs on prices that no one actually pays.

I don't really understand what all that extra complexity achieves?

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#28

Post by lotsofpulp »

toast0 wrote: post #26
bsder wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People who need statins are on them for the rest of their life. People who need blood pressure regulators are on them for the rest of their life. Why should GLP-1s be any different?

There are a lot of very inexpensive statins and blood pressure drugs (not all of them, of course). $1000/month seems like a lot. Although if you end up eating significantly less, there's some savings there.

Theoretically, a lot (most?) of healthcare costs are downstream of being overweight. Going to the doctor for diabetes, hypertension, knee problems, and the long term effects of those might be less costly than a constant subscription to purchase GLP-1s.

Bonus is you no longer crave expensive sugary or alcoholic drinks and food.

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#29

Post by yimby2001 »

timewizard wrote: post #25
alabastervlog wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Any number of ways, they don’t pay that much. Or, 2) They’re rich. Not even that rich. I mean hell we paid $1,500/month for two kids to go to preschool, for years, and that sucked but we could still save. And we had a household income of like $130k or so at the time. Doing fine, not saying we didn’t have alright income, but not that uncommon. Now imagine a two-FAANG income like many folks on here. $1,000/month, ev…

> but not that uncommon Taking in nearly double over the average household income is, by definition, uncommon.

I think that’s a pretty average income for a couple with two children

Re: The Ozempocalypse Is Nigh

#30

Post by novemp »

alabastervlog wrote: post #19
deadbabe wrote: post #2

Can someone please explain the economics of GLP-1s? How can people pay $1000/month for the rest of their life, just to keep weight off? Rent and mortgages are already insane as is, and then there’s insurance, kids, etc.

1) Any number of ways, they don’t pay that much. Or, 2) They’re rich. Not even that rich. I mean hell we paid $1,500/month for two kids to go to preschool, for years, and that sucked but we could still save. And we had a household income of like $130k or so at the time. Doing fine, not saying we didn’t have alright income, but not that uncommon. Now imagine a two-FAANG income like many folks on here. $1,000/month, ev…

> And we had a household income of like $130k or so at the time. Doing fine, not saying we didn’t have alright income, but not that uncommon.

Americans with six-figure incomes seriously don't understand the rest of the country lives.

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