Home | Welcome to the Diabetes Stories website | riva greenberg David Mendosa: A Writer About Diabetes 9/16/16: Why Walmart Insulins Aren’t the Answer to High Insulin Prices | Insulin Nation Commentary Some people don’t understand why people with diabetes get upset at the price of insulin. They see insulin for sale at a relatively reasonable price in Walmart and don’t see the problem. What they don’t know is that these Walmart insulins just don’t perform nearly as well as the more expensive insulins, and that gap in performance can have a very negative effect on the health of people with diabetes. There are three insulins available at Walmart for the price of $25 – NPH, Regular, and 70/30 (a mix of the two). NPH was first approved by the FDA in 1950, Regular was approved in 1982, 70/30 in 1989. Take a moment and think about what healthcare was like in 1950. Now, I’m sure someone is saying, “Well, they must still work if they are still being sold.” If a person with Type 1 diabetes were to switch from a Humalog/Lantus insulin regimen to Regular and NPH, it would drastically alter their lifestyle, making blood sugar control more irregular and raising A1C scores.
Diabetes Blog Diabetic Living Diabetic Connect - Online Diabetes Community for Help and Support 1/10/19: Rush Introduces "Insulin Access For All Act" for Medicaid & Medicare Beneficiaries On Wednesday January 9, Representative Bobby Rush (D-Ill) introduced the Insulin Access For All Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill aims to eliminate the cost-sharing requirement for patients on Medicare and Medicaid so more people living with diabetes have access to this life-saving medication. Cost sharing refers to the share of costs covered by insurance that must be paid out-of-pocket, often including deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments. If this bill were to become law, insulin could be covered by Medicare and Medicaid in full, eliminating costly monthly pharmacy expenses. “This bill, introduced with significant [33] cosponsors, addresses the appalling issue plaguing Americans who have one of the most devastating and debilitating diseases of modern times — diabetes. The high cost of insulin can have fatal consequences, as was the case with Alec Raeshawn Smith in 2017. Read more about H.R. 366 here.
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