Justin's Story

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

THE COST OF A CHRONIC ILLNESS #DBLOGWEEK DAY 2

Insulin and other diabetes medications and supplies can be costly.  Here in the US, insurance status and age (as in Medicare eligibility) can impact both the cost and coverage.  So today, let’s discuss how cost impacts our diabetes care.  Do you have advice to share?  For those outside the US, is cost a concern?  Are there other factors such as accessibility or education that cause barriers to your diabetes care?  (This topic was inspired by suggestions from Rick and Jen.)






Great topic to spread awareness about the cost of a preexisting condition.  Type 1 diabetes, is a very expensive disease.  For starters i'm going to list the prices of items we need for Justin's care.  These will be approximate prices that I've found on various medical supply websites,  without insurance or any other assistance.  

INSULIN- $270.00 (FOR 1 VIAL, WE USE 2 A MONTH FOR JUSTIN)

ONE TOUCH 
TEST STRIPS- $145.00 (FOR 1 BOX OF 100, WE USE 2 A MONTH) 

DEXCOM TRANSMITTER-$745.00 (USE 1 EVERY 3 MONTHS)

DEXCOM SENSOR- $857.00 (FOR 1 BOX WITH 4 SENSORS, 1 BOX IS GOOD FOR US FOR 2 MONTHS)

DEXCOM RECEIVER-$1,200.00 (REPLACED ONCE A YEAR IF NEEDED)

INSULIN PUMP SITES-$190.00 (FOR 1 MONTH SUPPLY)

INSULIN PUMP CARTRIDGES-$55.00 (FOR 1 MONTH SUPPLY)

INSULIN PUMP-$8,000.00

*I'm not including items such as skin tac, unisolve, alcohol wipes, batteries

TOTAL MONTHLY COST WITHOUT INSURANCE FOR US:  $1932.00  (NOT INCLUDING PUMP, THE DEXCOM TRANSMITTER AND RECEIVER)  

It's beyond ridiculous!  

Justin was on a medicaid program and we were receiving all of his supplies for no cost except for our monthly premium, which was not much.  His insulin and test strips were $5.  Unfortunately because of a raise my husband got (not much mind you) we no longer qualified for that program.  So now we have a plan with a deductible and were saving money onto an HSA account to help pay for it.  So whatever raise was gotten is gone.......

I can totally understand why people choose not to have a dexcom or a pump.  Just the insulin alone is way too expensive.  

The high cost of care for Type 1 diabetes can definitely impact ones care, you may not test your blood sugar as often to save strips, or not take as much insulin as you need.  These things shouldn't be happening.  It's truly beyond me why other countries healthcare is a right and here in the US it's a business.  People are dying because they can't afford insulin.  It's not right, that shouldn't be happening and it really makes me angry. 

When in a pinch ask your doctor for some supplies, heck ours just gave us a box of pump sites!  Shes's given me test strips and insulin as well.  It can't hurt to ask.  There are also "pay it forward" groups in which people will trade or give supplies, which have recently been in the news as the cost of insulin went up again.  






4 comments:

  1. I'm speechless. Thank you for taking the time to share.

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  2. Thank you for sharing this. The cost without (well and really with) insurance is crazy!

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  3. Great advice about asking doctors. I know they often have "sample" to pass along.

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