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Say you use OTC everything for diabetes.
$29/month unlimited strips + $50 for a vial of R & NPH + $26 for 100 syringes. An extra $105/month. Most Americans can't afford a $400 emergency. Could you afford it?
No & $105/ month is itself a bs estimate to be debunked.
Say you use OTC everything for diabetes.
$29/month unlimited strips + $50 for a vial of R & NPH + $26 for 100 syringes. An extra $105/month. Most Americans can't afford a $400 emergency. Could you afford it?
No & $105/ month is itself a bs estimate to be debunked.
You might not know that you can buy test strips OTC. I didn't when I was rationing. Hurdle 1.
These ads that show up when googling "test strips" for me. Ignore the pool strips. Going rate for 100 is between $40-100. You might think this is what you have to pay. Hurdle 2.
These ads that show up when googling "test strips" for me. Ignore the pool strips. Going rate for 100 is between $40-100. You might think this is what you have to pay. Hurdle 2.
If you know where to look, you can unlock the "cheap" test strips.
The $29/month unlimited is a rate from http://center.health , a company most people in the DOC don't know about, let alone a random person without a diabetes community. Good luck.
The $29/month unlimited is a rate from http://center.health , a company most people in the DOC don't know about, let alone a random person without a diabetes community. Good luck.
You might notice Walmart and their ReliOn setup. $18 for 100 and $9 for a meter. It's not unlimited but 100-200 strips every month should be enough, right? https://www.walmart.com/ip/ReliOn-Premier-Compact-Blood-Glucose-Monitoring-Kit/352439457?athcpid=352439457&athpgid=athenaItemPage&athcgid=null&athznid=PWVUB&athieid=v0&athstid=CS020&athguid=c5a54523-007-17483729599fb9&athancid=null&athena=true
Let's move onto the insulin. We'll assume somehow a you managed to overcome hurdles to access the ReliOn strips. And, that you know that you can buy insulin OTC? That's another hurdle. Oh and this won't work at all if you live in Indiana. Sorry hoosiers.
1 vial each of R and NPH a month is a generous estimate in itself. Most diabetics use anywhere from 1-4 vials of insulin total a month. You probably need more.
Maybe way more! Insulin resistance is a thing with all types of diabetes. 2 vials a month is the bare minimum insulin a person with no insulin resistance needs and, even then, it might not be enough for you.
$25 a vial a pop adds up.
$25 a vial a pop adds up.
Oh, don't forget that NPH may actually kill you. With a responsible care team and a competent doctor, you might be okay. But, remember, how you're paying for everything out of pocket?
Can you add another $250/ quarter to the budget for diabetes? https://diabetesvoice.org/en/diabetes-views/relion-insulin-dangerous-for-type-1-diabetes/
Can you add another $250/ quarter to the budget for diabetes? https://diabetesvoice.org/en/diabetes-views/relion-insulin-dangerous-for-type-1-diabetes/
Even then, a doctor sees you for 2/8760 of the hours you exist on earth a year. Good luck. Just stay out of DKA and the hospital otherwise this whole survival gig is up.
You might survive on NPH but you aren't going to thrive. But, hey. You have tools! Just test more.
You might survive on NPH but you aren't going to thrive. But, hey. You have tools! Just test more.
At 100 strips a month, you can test 3 times a day! Yeah, that's no where close enough to know what is happening with a critical biological function that needs to be in balance.
Add another $18/month to test 6 times a day or another $36/month for 9.
Add another $18/month to test 6 times a day or another $36/month for 9.
Are we really living in a reality where $105/month is still possible? No. And, we haven't even talked syringes yet.
You can generally buy syringes OTC. Did you know that? I googled & I'm not even sure this applies to all states.
Also, crap like this: https://www.nbc12.com/story/34450528/diabetic-denied-syringes-at-walmart-pharmacy-calls-12/
You can generally buy syringes OTC. Did you know that? I googled & I'm not even sure this applies to all states.
Also, crap like this: https://www.nbc12.com/story/34450528/diabetic-denied-syringes-at-walmart-pharmacy-calls-12/
Syringes still carry a stigma of drug use with them! Racism amplifies that. You think you can overcome it? Okay, let's say you do.
A box of 100 syringes is $26. At Walmart. Again, these are the ideal prices. Hope you've figured out how to price shop diabetes by now.
A box of 100 syringes is $26. At Walmart. Again, these are the ideal prices. Hope you've figured out how to price shop diabetes by now.
Interlude: price shopping! Just price shop. It's clear decent prices are out there if you know about them. Your doctor will tell you! Your doctor actually knows nothing, good luck. Oh, and what doctor? I thought we went over that already. It's okay, internet is guaranteed.
Back to syringes, 100 single use syringes. Do you really think you're only giving insulin 3 times a day? If you're eating 3 square meals, maybe and that's if you don't need any correction dosages. Remember, we're using insulin that can kill us from the 50s so lol at that.
But, don't worry because "single use" isn't really single use. You can probably stretch each syringe 4-5 times! Have fun!
If you've managed to fight through all of this, congratulations! You are still alive. Probably not with $105 a month though. And, are you well?
At best, you sit there slowly dying while an abled person with nothing but better luck produces the best insulin out there for free.
At best, you sit there slowly dying while an abled person with nothing but better luck produces the best insulin out there for free.
You sit there slowly dying while privliged people with diabetes get access to the best tools on the market.
You sit there slowly dying while pharma greed hikes prices and corrupts our politicians and they do fucking nothing for you.
You sit there slowly dying while pharma greed hikes prices and corrupts our politicians and they do fucking nothing for you.
You sit there slowly dying and with instability in being able to treat diabetes, you may actually die at any point in time. It only takes one act of happenstance.
You're probably an average American who cannot afford an extra $105/month to treat diabetes. You're probably part of the 93.4% of diabetics who live in households that make under $75K/ year. And, remember, $105/month isn't the reality.
Diabetes is a death sentence for too many Americans. That's the reality.
You think diabetics are asking for too much when we want *slightly* better *slightly* newer insulin from 1996 that costs $3-6 to produce to be available to us OTC for $25? I mean the rest of these problems don't go away. We're not even asking for our lives back, tbh.
This is why insulin prices have been an issue for longer than the last 5 years. Why my mom died in 2006 from long term complications of rationing. Why we need #Medicare4All. Why Joe Biden and Kamala Harris can go fuck themselves for not including this in their platform NOW.
