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>In other countries insulin prices haven't risen in the same way and are still affordable. So why is the price gouging only happening in the US? The price hasn

by treis 7y ago

>In other countries insulin prices haven't risen in the same way and are still affordable. So why is the price gouging only happening in the US? The price hasn't really risen in the US either. Or at least not as much as the article implies. The list price has gone up but the corresponding discount given to insurance companies via PBM has gone up about the same. For most people it doesn't make a difference because they buy through insurance. For people like in TFA they get screwed because they have to pay list price. Theoretically, the number of people in that situation should be 0 post Obama care but obviously there are cracks. Unfortunately, the guy in the the articld fell through a crack. Mostly because he didn't realiZe that buying through insurance would save him a bunch of money. Or maybe he was at the wrong pharmacy to get a huge manufacturer discount.

ubertakter 7y ago
And this is a good illustration of how the system is completely fucked up. No part of what you wrote is sane (I'm not implying anything about you, just the system). The corporations have gamed the system where it's now normal to suggest that you are responsible for determining and getting discounts, in this instance that it was on the subject of the article to figure out the system, the system that was supposed to be helping him. Being in an employee-owned company, I'm very aware of how much the company pays for insurance. It never goes down, it always goes up. The company has to switch to plans where employees pay larger and larger deductibles, just to keep the insurance cost increases down in the 10% per year range. Usually the reason costs go up is because we "use it too much", people need to use generic drugs, etc. Of course, it's hard to determine actual costs in such a convoluted system, but orders of magnitude cost increases for medicines obviously plays a significant role.
- treis 7y ago
  > The corporations have gamed the system where it's now normal to suggest that you are responsible for determining and getting discounts It's not really that difficult. You just buy insurance or get on Medicare/Medicaid and you get the discounts. That's not to say that the system hasn't been grossly perverted. Just that the hoops aren't difficult to jump through for pretty much everyone.
  - phil21 7y ago
    > Just that the hoops aren't difficult to jump through for pretty much everyone. The hoops are incredibly difficult, just at random. My son was just diagnosed with T1 diabetes as a juvenile. The insurance company denied coverage for the ER visit and in-patient overnight stay after being admitted. They stated since he was not yet hyperglycemic and in acute stress that it should have been an outpatient procedure. So what sounded like a $50 co-pay because he has good insurance, turned into a $20,000 bill out of the blue that must be fought.

by treis 7y ago

ubertakter 7y ago

And this is a good illustration of how the system is completely fucked up. No part of what you wrote is sane (I'm not implying anything about you, just the system). The corporations have gamed the system where it's now normal to suggest that you are responsible for determining and getting discounts, in this instance that it was on the subject of the article to figure out the system, the system that was supposed to be helping him. Being in an employee-owned company, I'm very aware of how much the company pays for insurance. It never goes down, it always goes up. The company has to switch to plans where employees pay larger and larger deductibles, just to keep the insurance cost increases down in the 10% per year range. Usually the reason costs go up is because we "use it too much", people need to use generic drugs, etc. Of course, it's hard to determine actual costs in such a convoluted system, but orders of magnitude cost increases for medicines obviously plays a significant role.

treis 7y ago
> The corporations have gamed the system where it's now normal to suggest that you are responsible for determining and getting discounts It's not really that difficult. You just buy insurance or get on Medicare/Medicaid and you get the discounts. That's not to say that the system hasn't been grossly perverted. Just that the hoops aren't difficult to jump through for pretty much everyone.
- phil21 7y ago
  > Just that the hoops aren't difficult to jump through for pretty much everyone. The hoops are incredibly difficult, just at random. My son was just diagnosed with T1 diabetes as a juvenile. The insurance company denied coverage for the ER visit and in-patient overnight stay after being admitted. They stated since he was not yet hyperglycemic and in acute stress that it should have been an outpatient procedure. So what sounded like a $50 co-pay because he has good insurance, turned into a $20,000 bill out of the blue that must be fought.