Hello friends, welcome back to my blog. How is your day going? I often talk a lot about healthcare and personal finance in my blog. One of the blog’s purposes is to help readers be more conscious of healthcare costs and provide knowledge so that readers can save money. The great news is in the making for diabetic patients. Last month, the House passed a bill to limit the cost of insulin to $35/month.
What is diabetes and how is it a problem in America?
Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. Diabetes doesn’t discriminate against age, appearance, economic class, or gender. You can look skinny and still be diagnosed with diabetes. According to the CDC, 34.2 million Americans (10.5% of the US population) have diabetes. For the period 2002-2-15, the overall incidence of type 1 diabetes among US children and adolescents (<20) significantly increased.
How expensive are diabetic medications?
Depending on the type of diabetes, patients can either take insulin, oral med only or both. Without the help of health insurance, the cost can range from $4 to $500 depending on the quantity, medical supplies, and brand versus generic drug. For patients covered by insurance, typical out-of-pocket costs are around $50 but can be up to $200 monthly or more.
Hospital and retail pharmacies get a decent discount when they order medications. Their cost-saving benefit is from being a member of a larger purchasing group. For example, the hospital pays $0.0474 for a tablet of Metformin 500mg. If a hospital doesn’t belong to a purchasing group, they have to pay up to $0.7 for the same med. That is 15 times the difference in terms of the cost factor. By the time the medication gets to the patient hands, the cost grows larger.
Insulin is even more expensive. A bottle of insulin Lantus (long-acting insulin) costs a patient out-of-pocket anywhere between $150 to $340. If you have type 2 diabetes, Insulin Lantus is something you must have.
How does this bill help diabetic patients?
“We can agree that prescription drugs are outrageously expensive in this country,” Mr. Biden said
This bill limits the cost of insulin to $35 a month. This is amazing because it would diabetic patients so much money.
Any problems with this bill?
Yes, there are a few issues you need to know:
- This bill only addresses patients who have health insurance. It would not improve the affordability of insulin for people who lack health insurance.
- For the insurance company, this bill is a problem. While the bill would lower costs for many individual patients who take insulin, it would do nothing to reduce the prices paid to the companies that make it. If the patient is only required to pay $35, the insurance companies would simply pay a larger share of the price which can be up to $500 or more.
In conclusion
This bill is a step forward to help address drug costs beyond just insulin. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it will need support from 10 Republicans to overcome a filibuster. If this bill is successfully approved, diabetes can be more manageable in our country with the help of lower drug cost.
I hope you enjoy this blog. Please DO ME A FAVOR: comment below what you want me to talk about and I will cover it in the next blog.
