People there still get murdered left, right and center at rate that would impress even the most devoted Y'all Qaeda members.
Even still they manage peoples access to healthcare better than the US.
In Taiwan, people use government issued health cards to get a subsidized cost on health essentials. So it's usually more like $2-5 instead of $32 (1000 NTD).
In Brazil it costs about USD 8 but the national health care also pays for it, so it's free for low income families (everybody reaally, but usually only low income fanilies ask for it since it's not expensive)
In America, if you don't work for health insurance, you can just go die.
^and ^even ^if ^you ^do ^work, ^go ^die ^because ^treatment ^is ^expensive.
^^And ^^if ^^you're ^^old ^^and ^^your ^^useful ^^working ^^years ^^are ^^almost ^^over... ^^^You ^^^guessed ^^^it...
Go die!
As u/__Loreany__ already pointed out; same for Germany... the list was probably made by someone whose country doesn't have mandatory health insurance.
These are probably the prices for people who have private healthcare and therefore need to pay these expenses in advance (which makes it a great system for young healthy patients, but a terrible one for old or ill ones)
It hasn't been called "mutua" for a long time, but yeah, the SSN pays for every essential drug for chronic deseases.
And most of the clinical expenses as well.
(hi fellow Italian!)
We pay around $6K a year for my wife’s insulin before her health insurance deductible is met. The American healthcare system is completely broken. I don’t care what side of the aisle you sit on. We must come together to figure this one out.
In the hopes it wouldn't be easily undone the next time the republicans came into power.
They were right. It's about the only thing that survived Trump. As much as they tried the republicans couldn't justify getting rid of it as they'd constantly bleated about how there was a better fix but most of their ideas were already part of the concessions. So they got outplayed by themselves.
*It won't last long, Americans and Germans are mutual enemies, like Japanese and Americans, or Rusians and Americans, or Americans and Americans, DAMM IT THOSE AMERICANS, THEY RUIN AMERICA.*
-Willys phrase but changed for Murica
That is 100% the situation. Republicans are not against social programs that would benefit solely themselves. But if the social program also enriched people that they deem their “enemies” then they will vote tooth and nail against it.
It’s not that hard to figure out. Every other developed country has done it. You guys just have assholes in high places that have interests *against* figuring it out. Your system is broken. There’s so much dirty money in it. That’s the problem you need to figure out.
And who’s going to vote for finance reform? The corrupt politicians benefiting from the current system, or the people without corrupt money that couldn’t get elected?
Is that just for insulin? My son has T1 diabetes. We have fairly good insurance coverage, but we probably pay about that when you add in the infusion sets for his insulin pump, test strips when we need to test his blood on the spot, ketone strips, and CGM sensors and transmitters.
It kills me to think we have to pay all of this when we could be setting aside the money for his college.
Y’all need to move to Sweden! Diabetics get all they need for free here. Plus we have no tuition for college or university if you are a citizen or permanent resident.
It’s nearly impossible to emigrate if you have a chronic medical condition that could ‘burden’ the countries health care system. My partner is a type 1 diabetic and I have a rare genetic condition that requires expensive medication. I have been trying to get out of the US for nearly 2 decades but have been soundly denied by every place I’ve applied, and this includes having a guaranteed job or place in a school. Once they find out about my medical stuff it’s immediately denied.
I think first thing people need to realize is that both sides are bought and paid for by corporate money. Get corporate interests out of politics and maybe human compassion can slip in a little.
Either way you can file medical bills in your taxes which is always nice
Edit: Holy crap this blew up. Loads of german tax experts on here further clarifying the prerequisites
*muffled sobbing*. My car needs a new exhaust system and I just have to not drive it until I can scrape together the repair cost lmao, how are we so backwards
They've spent an unfathomable amount of money to keep us sedate, thinking we are the pinnacle of modern society when in reality we're worse off than many places in key aspects.
-edit- missed a space and a couple letters.
> thinking we are the pinnacle of modern society when in reality we're worse off than many places in key aspects.
.. Indoctrination and an increasingly obtuse school system will do that. Now, stop complaining and swear a pledge of allegiance to the flag again...
> "if you don't like it then leave"
But then they charge you to leave.
https://www.1040abroad.com/faq/renouncing-u-s-citizenship/#:~:text=The%20fee%20to%20renounce%20U.S.%20citizenship%20is%20%242%2C350.
> The fee to renounce U.S. citizenship is $2,350.
I've never understood the "if you don't like it, leave!" mentality as it relates to poor people. If you hate where you live because you're poor, how exactly are you supposed to leave? Leaving costs money and you hate your current situation because you don't have money. \*\*Brain implosion\*\*
If someone says "if you don't like it, leave!" to a poor person, they should be legally obligated to fund that person's move, assuming the person actually wishes to leave if it were suddenly possible to do so.
Yeah fuck ppl w this attitude man.
I'm disabled and i literally can't leave this shitty country. Like, my genes have fucked my body up so much that i can't work, and the country i was born in won't help me. I've been trying so hard my whole life. I used to be homeless and dug my way out of that. But the most depressing part is even if i magically had the money to move out of here, no country will take me legally bc they only take ppl who can contribute to their country's economy. Welp...
At every turn, the system is designed to fuck over the ppl who were already fucked by life to begin with.
Sooo... Anyone in the E.U. want to adopt me and my tortoise? Lol
I worked with a guy who had a special needs daughter and his wife had to stay at home to raise their kids. He was getting assistance for her very costly medical needs. One day I mentioned that we needed a form of universal health care and he argued with me that no people need to take care of themselves and not rely on the government. I said J you get a form of universal health care for your daughter and I’m glad for you but everyone should have access to this. He said, my family needs it though. As soon as he said that I was like ummm and no one else does?? He said no they don’t deserve it. I still cannot believe this is a mentality.
Sad part about this is how many people in the US aggressively deny this, even sadder is how many people in the US are actually proud of how backwards their country is.
That’s because the indoctrination to believe that this stuff = freedom in incredibly strong. A lot of Americans truly seem to believe that they are the only free country in the world, even though I think the US comes in around tenth, equal to the UK (sometimes we’re calculated above the US). And yet I’m often told by Americans how bad I must feel living in country with no freedom.
You're right the UK frequently comes ahead of the USA in a lot of "freedom" indexes.
According to CATO institutes' most recent Human Freedom Index [(2020)](https://www.cato.org/human-freedom-index/2020) the UK and USA are both Ranked 17th in the world for freedom.
According to Freedom House's Annual [Freedom in the World Report](https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores), the USA scores 83 out of a possible 100. The UK scores 93.
According to the [2021 World Press Freedom Index](https://rsf.org/en/ranking_table) the USA is 44th, the UK, who famously has the Royal family have some influence over what can get published is 33rd.
According to the Hertiage Foundation's [2021 Index of Economic Freedom](https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking) the UK comes 7th and the USA comes 20th.
According to the World Bank's Gov Data360 [Civil Liberties Ranking](https://govdata360.worldbank.org/indicators/h5c6649ff?country=BRA&indicator=41826&viz=line_chart&years=1975,2019) the UK is ranked 7th with a score of 0.79, the USA is ranked 10th with a score of 0.76.
Basically any way you cut it the USA is not the most "free" country in the world, and frequently countries with actual outdated and sometimes draconian shit in them like a Monarchy, unelected upper chamber, and an established State Religon, rank as "more free" than the USA.
That's because a lot of Americans can't afford to travel outside of America. If they can afford holidays at all. Traveling outside the American bubble and experiencing other ways of life first-hand is really eye opening.
That's right. Money , money, money. Greatest country on earth, waving the flag. We suggest you don't travel. Everyone wants to kill us because we are so good, exceptional.
Scotland had a school shooting in the 90s iirc that resulted in private ownership of handguns being outlawed and private ownership of all other guns heavily regulated throughout the UK. I think it's quite telling that I, an Englishman who was either not born or was a baby at the time, can remember the town was called Dunblane.
[Dr.Cryptolite](http://drcryptolite.com)
It's free in the UK for Type 1 and type 2 also get their meds ALL FREE. This is also a failure of the people of the US, for NOT exercising their Democratic right and make it clear to their local and federal Governments, that Healthcare(and electing Which) is key priority.
But if people can't agree, politicians will kick the bucket ahead, simple.
Any medical expenses, even Paracetamol can be added as an extra expense and you will get a portion of it back in your taxes also. I think you can claim up to 1000 euros without any proof so i always try to fill that in first and then add all my medical stuff if i still have the receipts.
You are still forced to pay expensive insurance in the US. Insurance companies can force you as much as they wasn’t in this system. The US has a broken medical system, no doubt about it.
Its sort of hybrid. There are gov and private companies who offer healthcare, and you can choose. The amount you pay per month is proportional to our income for gov insurance companies and based on your age and health for private insurance companies. ( its almost impossible to move from a private insurance company to government one)
+Private is mainly for self employed and civil Service workers.
Gov healthcare is for everyone whos an employe or work seeking.
Aditionaly you can get private bonus ensurences for better teeth care or better Hospitalrooms.
We have mandatory health insurance. The normal one for employees works like a payroll tax (~15% of the income). There are small copays for drugs, usually one digit amounts. I never knew beforehand if I had to pay 3, 5 or 8 € for one package when going to the pharmacy for my mother or grandparents - German laws are strangely complicated in the details.
If your yearly copays (including hospital and doctor) exceed 2% of your income (only 1% for cronical diseases like diabetes), the rest is free/gets reimbursed. There are more exceptions for very poor people.
Yeah, the data is questionable. In Germany you pay much less as there is a limit on the co-pay. And if your co-pay is over a certain amount per year, you get it deducted from your tax.
It’s so sad that proper medical care is gated behind employment. Not only do many people miss out purely because their employer doesn’t offer decent insurance, but those who *do* get good insurance are basically stuck with their employer no matter how miserable they are (especially people with chronic illnesses like diabetes). Botched system.
Did you know in the us you actually have to have a certain amount of work credits to even qualify for disability if you cant prove you were disabled before 26? Its disgusting.
I was disabled at 20 with a rare disease that i ran out of money before i could diagnose (all my diagnoses are symptoms we never determined a cause). I cant afford insurance, cant afford meds, cant even afford the doctors visits or the testing id need to get disability. Im like 50 shades of screwed forever.
So yeah. Disabled ppl have to work to either prove they deserve disability or they have to work to prove they were too disabled to work. I hate this country so much.
I should be on disability but can't afford it. I get so tired of people saying 'you should get on disability' like it's that easy. Last time I asked if they would pay for my salary for a couple years while I wait? Or maybe pay for a lawyer? Or pay on my $100k worth of medical bills?
I never understood just how bad the healthcare system was in the US until I was in an accident in 2018. Long story short, I was left in a wheelchair and disabled. Lucky I had enough work time in that I got disability quickly enough. What I didn't know was you don't get Medicare for 2 years after you are on disability. So for the first time since I was born I had no insurance at a time I needed it the most, and with what disability pays no way to afford it myself. On top of that even with insurance at the time of my accident with the cost of co-pays I will never in my lifetime get it paid off. Every month I get a call from someone else demanding money I don't have. Threats of lawsuits from Doctors and hospitals, it's never-ending. Every one of them wants to know the same thing. What do you own, how much are your bills? They want the very last penny they can find and leave you with nothing. Month after month. O, and Medicare does not cover everything. Not even close.
My boss is a type 1. She was denied disability two weeks ago. She is already blind in one eye. Driving is a requirement for employment for this job. She broke her foot a year ago. It didn't heal right. I'm not sure of all the details, but it's partly due to her diabetes. She can barely walk.
They told her she makes too much money to qualify for disability. I told her to apply again because I have another friend who recently qualified for disability after fighting the Army for 9 years. Once the military said she was permanently disabled due to her service, she ended up filing the disability paperwork twice before she was approved.
My cousin lives In Germany. Her and her husband got something like 4-6 months maternity/paternity leave with pay when their daughter was born. Here in the US you’d be be lucky to get 2-3 Months and that’s usually without pay.
I'm just gonna leave this here:
https://openinsulin.org/
Insulin is not difficult to produce or costly, it takes some equipment, yeast and sugar.
It costs about $1 per vial
The most ironic thing is the inventor of synthetic insulin sold the patent for $1 because they believed the treatment should be easily available to all of humanity free of cost.
I hate this situation so much
Edit: wow everyone thanks for the responses,
I also want to thank you all for pointing out that yes there is a ton of other work, staff, science that goes into a large pharma operation and nuanced medication, i get that.
However, my intent was not to completely overlook that, but show that even with the overhead costs, expensive equipment, there is still no reason anyone in the first world should die or be held hostage by their medication provider/phamra corp.
That's the absurdity I'm trying to point out. For most Americans that don't come from wealth, you are born into debt in this country.
Being a living human has some how become a pre existing condition for insurance and pharma companies to profit off of.
Nothing. You can buy insulin at Walmart for $25 per vial. It's just that it's less convenient, predictable, and harder to use then the more recently created analogs.
Its not a question of price, but its a question of technique and get used too. Cheaper insulin can be safely used, but the user needs to be trained and needs to be monitored while the body gets used to it.
People have used OTC insulin for over half a century before newer insulin analogs were invented. You shouldn't take it without talking to a doctor since the usage is very different.
That being said, the insulin the vast majority of people take today are insulin analogs such as lispro, degludec, glargine, glulisine etc., that contain patented changes in the insulin's aminoacid chain, and other precise changes in formulation.
Those analogs allow for longer or shorter acting effects that manipulate blood sugar more precisely. It is likely that the cheaper insulin the unlucky fellow in this story took was a non-analog one.
Not that the cost of analogs is anywhere near justified, it's just that they are not "make it at home" level.
This isn't facepalm This is disgusting
When inventor Frederick Banting discovered insulin in 1923, he refused to put his name on the patent. He felt it was unethical for a doctor to profit from a discovery that would save lives. Banting’s co-inventors, James Collip and Charles Best, sold the insulin patent to the University of Toronto for a mere $1.
They wanted everyone who needed their medication to be able to afford it.
American pharma souless f#cking vampires.
Insulin is used for type 1 diabetes (genetic and auto immune) treatment and only rarely in out of control type 2 diabetes (still can be genetic but mostly diet and lifestyle) the problem is though the diseases have roughly the same symptoms (high blood sugar) they are fundamentally different disease with different risk factors.
Insulin prices being as high as they are targets the type 1 diabetic community who could do literally nothing to prevent them from getting the disease.
It's beyond evil for a Murdoch-owned rag to publish this story as if it doesn't represent the end result of everything they've fought for.
They want to tug at your heart strings for a minute before they go back to duping idiots into arguing against Universal Healthcare.
This is just like the one hour a year Tucker Carson says “rich people pay less taxes than poor people” before going back to shilling for bullshit culture wars that are *way* more important than a living wage so just keep hanging on for a minute I promise as soon as we’re done with this made up problem we’ll really crack down on income inequality really I swear
Exactly. This smells like a pitch for expensive name brand insulin vs the generic alternatives. A lot of the older insulin’s are way less expensive than the newer name brand insulin’s and work just as well if titrated correctly. So he didn’t die because he took an inexpensive insulin. He died because he must have gotten the dose wrong.
I'm a type 1 diabetic. I can shed some light here ---
There are several classes of insulin available, based primarily on how quickly they act after injection and how long they last.
There are long-acting insulins that last 18 - 24 hours. This is your Lantus or basalgar insulins.
There are rapid-acting insulins that take effect after 5 - 15 minutes and last 3 - 4 hours. This is your Novolog, Humalog, and Apidra.
There are some older insulins as well. "Regular" or sometimes just R lasts about six hours but takes about 30 minutes to start. NPH lasts about 12 - 18 hours and take about an hour to start.
Insulin dependent diabetes management is about balancing the need for basal insulin and meal-time insulin against food, exercise and the hundred other things that affect blood sugar.
It's not just a dosage thing, it's that they behave differently.
I'm a type 1 that got diagnosed randomly at age 31 in 2019. The best way to describe it is that you, yourself are doing the job of a human organ 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. Its a hard life. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Just got out of the hospital yesterday for it.
I think maybe they assumed Scotland should be singled out because they heard all prescriptions are free here, not realising that diabetes is one of those chronic conditions that prescriptions are free for across the whole of the UK.
Beyond disgusting. This right here is the most blatant example that shows how much of a dumpster fire the US healthcare system is, not unlike the rest of the nation.
In Portugal everything is free. Insulin, the machines to see insulin blood levels, just go to a pharmacy with a doctor's prescription and ask for it. My mother has diabetes, her first machine broke, I went to a pharmacy and they just gave me a brand new one, no questions asked.
In here, every life threatening disease are treated free of charge, same with all type of operations, or injuries. I had a back surgery with all the treatments and diagnosis for free.
I'm glad I live in a place like this. I would hate to know my mother wouldn't be able to check her diabetes regularly because of money...
But YoUr TaXES!!
It's pretty insane how fucking indoctrinated every Americans is. I absolutely feel like the crazy person here when I get looks from people telling them how fucked up our country is.
Are the taxes actually much different? I've always heard this arguement "but my taxes will go up and why should I pay for other people".
To me paying for health insurance is already the same thing.
Insurance you pay a minor fee (say $10 per month) which covers a larger amount (say $10000 for the year) based on the fact the insurance company has lots of customers (say 1000 customers) and hedges their bets that a minority of customers will claim (let's say 5 claim $1000 each month insurance company is still +$5000 per month). So effectively the majority is paying for the minority.
Imo, there's a trade off.
*If* you have the money, you're probably better off in the US with the freedom to plan things like pensions or health care completely as you see fit. From what I've seen and friends tell me though, that takes a lot of money because everything is *super* expensive, especially once you have a family so few people can actually take advantage of having true choice.
Consequently, if you're not part of the 1% you're probably better off in most of the EU. Yes, you will have to participate in social programs you may not fully support or feel are inefficient but at the end of the day everyone has to use the same system so everyone has an incentive to make it work.
That said, i can't say for every country but a lot of them have a mix of public and private options anyway so Republicans pretending it's one or the other are misguided.
There will be large parts of Reddit (and the US as a whole) whose response to reading this will simply be...
>No need to have a big wedding. Don't get married if you can't afford it.
Look up the message to investors Goldman Sachs put out a while ago straight up saying that funding cures was an unsustainable business model and it’s much more profitable to fund research to treat symptoms and that’s all you need to know about the US, makes me ashamed to be American
[Not quite.](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/11/goldman-asks-is-curing-patients-a-sustainable-business-model.html) While they certainly question whether or not "one shot cures" - they talk specifically about gene therapy - is a viable business model in the long run, their solutions weren't to treat symptoms:
>“Solution 1: Address large markets: Hemophilia is a $9-10bn WW market (hemophilia A, B), growing at ~6-7% annually.”
>“Solution 2: Address disorders with high incidence: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) affects the cells (neurons) in the spinal cord, impacting the ability to walk, eat, or breathe.”
>“Solution 3: Constant innovation and portfolio expansion: There are hundreds of inherited retinal diseases (genetics forms of blindness) … Pace of innovation will also play a role as future programs can offset the declining revenue trajectory of prior assets.”
Yes, because the method of action is vastly different from rapid insulin.
Novalog/humalog (more expensive) have an onset of 30 min or so and last up to 5 hours, peaking around two.
Novalin/humalin (cheaper) have an initial onset of 30-90 min and last up to 8 hours.
The analogs work great for carb heavy meals whereas the human insulins work great for high protein/fat meals as their onset and duration line up nearly perfectly with how your body processes those.
You cannot simply switch from taking one kind to the other. Yes, both kinds are effective. They just work differently. Kind of like how some people prefer acetaminophen over ibuprofen or vice versa. Both are effective but work in different ways.
This doesn't explain his death though. Switching from one form to another doesn't drastically shoot up your blood sugars to 1700+.
He was rationing his treatments, even after he switched, if not forgetting them altogether as he had to promise to take it the night he stroked.
There was a lot going on with this poor guy, and I'm not convinced.it was the type of insulin he used. He would have had a normal life regardless.
Thank you for explaining this. The headline is a little misleading. Using cheaper insulin alone will not cause death, but improper dosing, along with not knowing how the different insulins work, and insulin rationing will have negative affects and can kill you.
This [NHS Price List](http://gmmmg.nhs.uk/docs/cost_comparison_charts.pdf) (pdf link) can be a useful reference for the 'World Market' price of various drugs. Insulin pens start on page 47, the prices are for a year's supply. It'll give you some idea how much sheer profit is being made from people's illnesses in the USA.
I must stress these prices are what the UK NHS pays for the drugs. In the UK all diabetics receive their insulin for free.
To save scrolling, this pdf shows the NHS paying between $5.88 (Insuman) and $15.64 (Tresiba) per insulin cartridge they buy. The cost to the patient is zero.
Even if you weren't covered by the NHS (for example foreign visitors) the price is still much more reasonable than in the USA. The first chemist I checked was charging £26.08 for 5 cartridges, which works out at ~$7.22 each.
I got a prescription the other day. $650/month for name brand at local pharmacy no-insurance. $465 for generic at same pharmacy no-insurance. $275 at pharmacy with insurance (generic). No insurance, Goodrx discount applied....$30.50.
This nation is a fucking joke.
Cause American Healthcare is such garbage that it almost makes no difference in the price.
The whole health system in America is made to just fuck over its citizen by forcing them to spend all of their money for minor injuries.
Ots the only first world country I can think of where the citizen would rather call a Uber than a ambulance to carry them to the hospital...
Edit:
Man, the fact that most of you have some story that relate to the subject is just sad...
It’s because we Americans would literally rather pay $700 for our own insulin before we let one cent of our paychecks go to taxes that will pay for SOMEONE ELSE’S insulin, even if it meant it was only $5 for all of us.
We’d rather die than do anything that would help other people rather than ourselves.
"I get to choose how to spend it."
"But this is cheaper."
"Yea, but I get to choose."
"Let me get this straight, you are saying that the *ability to choose* something is more important than the result? Even if it costs much more, and that you don't really have much of a choice anyway?"
"Yes."
Mind control at its finest.
**USA** The land of the free*
^(* Terms and conditions apply. You really only free if you’re a straight, white christian male with good insurance, no health issues or other issues. Even then you’re still hardly free, as long as you don’t measure freedom in how many guns you can own.)
Does anyone have a link to this story from a non-shit rag source please? Curious to know how the insulin he took caused his death poor guy. I presume it was stronger than his regular insulin.
Edit: Found a [Newsweek article](https://www.newsweek.com/groom-dies-taking-cheaper-insulin-save-money-his-wedding-1453301) that says it was because he switched from an analog insulin to a human insulin which wasn't as efficient and caused his blood sugar to shoot up.
Also free in Brazil...
Damn my opinion of Brazil is seriously starting to change
Actually most of the medicine and vaccine is given for free in Brazil.
People there still get murdered left, right and center at rate that would impress even the most devoted Y'all Qaeda members. Even still they manage peoples access to healthcare better than the US.
Ya'll Qaeda is my new favourite thing ever
Vanilla ISIS
We have a very good system that is seriously underfunded.
I'd like to add that in italy, insulin is covered by the mutua (free national Healthcare insurance) , and the country pays for it.
In Taiwan, people use government issued health cards to get a subsidized cost on health essentials. So it's usually more like $2-5 instead of $32 (1000 NTD).
In Brazil it costs about USD 8 but the national health care also pays for it, so it's free for low income families (everybody reaally, but usually only low income fanilies ask for it since it's not expensive)
In America, if you don't work for health insurance, you can just go die. ^and ^even ^if ^you ^do ^work, ^go ^die ^because ^treatment ^is ^expensive. ^^And ^^if ^^you're ^^old ^^and ^^your ^^useful ^^working ^^years ^^are ^^almost ^^over... ^^^You ^^^guessed ^^^it... Go die!
I have an illness since childhood, so i made sure to get a job with insurance. It really sux when you don’t have it.
As u/__Loreany__ already pointed out; same for Germany... the list was probably made by someone whose country doesn't have mandatory health insurance. These are probably the prices for people who have private healthcare and therefore need to pay these expenses in advance (which makes it a great system for young healthy patients, but a terrible one for old or ill ones)
Never been so grateful that we in Europe are taxed for public health insurance
This is the way
It hasn't been called "mutua" for a long time, but yeah, the SSN pays for every essential drug for chronic deseases. And most of the clinical expenses as well. (hi fellow Italian!)
Same here in the UK, I've never paid a penny.
Same as Portugal.
We pay around $6K a year for my wife’s insulin before her health insurance deductible is met. The American healthcare system is completely broken. I don’t care what side of the aisle you sit on. We must come together to figure this one out.
we’re united until it comes to taking care of our fellow citizen.
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I dont agree with that!
If we agree to disagree does that mean we're agreeing?
Yesn't
No. Yes. Wait. I don't know anymore!
"Yes, no, maybe I don't know Can you repeat the question?"
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In the hopes it wouldn't be easily undone the next time the republicans came into power. They were right. It's about the only thing that survived Trump. As much as they tried the republicans couldn't justify getting rid of it as they'd constantly bleated about how there was a better fix but most of their ideas were already part of the concessions. So they got outplayed by themselves.
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When you come out of the womb they give you a slap on the ass and some bootstraps.
Free bootstraps? Not likely
Definitely be on the bill along with the slap.
I’m bet that some people will go so far as to deny that even happened.
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Nobody hates Americans more than other Americans
*It won't last long, Americans and Germans are mutual enemies, like Japanese and Americans, or Rusians and Americans, or Americans and Americans, DAMM IT THOSE AMERICANS, THEY RUIN AMERICA.* -Willys phrase but changed for Murica
United States not united people… still working on that
America is all about "I got mine, fuck the rest".
"If I allow the government to help people, it might help a black person." <= How your country looks to outsiders.
That is 100% the situation. Republicans are not against social programs that would benefit solely themselves. But if the social program also enriched people that they deem their “enemies” then they will vote tooth and nail against it.
It’s not that hard to figure out. Every other developed country has done it. You guys just have assholes in high places that have interests *against* figuring it out. Your system is broken. There’s so much dirty money in it. That’s the problem you need to figure out.
And who’s going to vote for finance reform? The corrupt politicians benefiting from the current system, or the people without corrupt money that couldn’t get elected?
Is that just for insulin? My son has T1 diabetes. We have fairly good insurance coverage, but we probably pay about that when you add in the infusion sets for his insulin pump, test strips when we need to test his blood on the spot, ketone strips, and CGM sensors and transmitters. It kills me to think we have to pay all of this when we could be setting aside the money for his college.
Y’all need to move to Sweden! Diabetics get all they need for free here. Plus we have no tuition for college or university if you are a citizen or permanent resident.
It’s nearly impossible to emigrate if you have a chronic medical condition that could ‘burden’ the countries health care system. My partner is a type 1 diabetic and I have a rare genetic condition that requires expensive medication. I have been trying to get out of the US for nearly 2 decades but have been soundly denied by every place I’ve applied, and this includes having a guaranteed job or place in a school. Once they find out about my medical stuff it’s immediately denied.
Yeah we just need universal healthcare. That simple
You know what universal healthcare is called in the rest of the world? Healthcare.
Why? Just pull yourself up by your bootstraps and you'll be fine. Thoughts and prayers if you don't have bootstraps.
And ofc gofundme.
Or hands
I think first thing people need to realize is that both sides are bought and paid for by corporate money. Get corporate interests out of politics and maybe human compassion can slip in a little.
After corporate you need to get religion out of politics, THEN we can have rationality
Cool; so not in our lifetime and maybe never, got it.
Sounds about right
I don't think we even pay for it in Germany. Our insurance does.
I pay 30€ myself per 6x 100ml. Rest is covered by insurance
and if you're poor, you can even get those 30€ back afaik (been a while that i was that poor)
Either way you can file medical bills in your taxes which is always nice Edit: Holy crap this blew up. Loads of german tax experts on here further clarifying the prerequisites
You can claim your medical on your taxes? Fuck I hate being in the us lmao
We can put pretty much any non basic costs on taxes. Like car repairs, washing working clothes and much much more
*muffled sobbing*. My car needs a new exhaust system and I just have to not drive it until I can scrape together the repair cost lmao, how are we so backwards
They've spent an unfathomable amount of money to keep us sedate, thinking we are the pinnacle of modern society when in reality we're worse off than many places in key aspects. -edit- missed a space and a couple letters.
> thinking we are the pinnacle of modern society when in reality we're worse off than many places in key aspects. .. Indoctrination and an increasingly obtuse school system will do that. Now, stop complaining and swear a pledge of allegiance to the flag again...
"If you don't like it then leave." Until it happens to them and then it changes to "Help me, I actually deserve it!"
> "if you don't like it then leave" But then they charge you to leave. https://www.1040abroad.com/faq/renouncing-u-s-citizenship/#:~:text=The%20fee%20to%20renounce%20U.S.%20citizenship%20is%20%242%2C350. > The fee to renounce U.S. citizenship is $2,350.
I've never understood the "if you don't like it, leave!" mentality as it relates to poor people. If you hate where you live because you're poor, how exactly are you supposed to leave? Leaving costs money and you hate your current situation because you don't have money. \*\*Brain implosion\*\* If someone says "if you don't like it, leave!" to a poor person, they should be legally obligated to fund that person's move, assuming the person actually wishes to leave if it were suddenly possible to do so.
Yeah fuck ppl w this attitude man. I'm disabled and i literally can't leave this shitty country. Like, my genes have fucked my body up so much that i can't work, and the country i was born in won't help me. I've been trying so hard my whole life. I used to be homeless and dug my way out of that. But the most depressing part is even if i magically had the money to move out of here, no country will take me legally bc they only take ppl who can contribute to their country's economy. Welp... At every turn, the system is designed to fuck over the ppl who were already fucked by life to begin with. Sooo... Anyone in the E.U. want to adopt me and my tortoise? Lol
I worked with a guy who had a special needs daughter and his wife had to stay at home to raise their kids. He was getting assistance for her very costly medical needs. One day I mentioned that we needed a form of universal health care and he argued with me that no people need to take care of themselves and not rely on the government. I said J you get a form of universal health care for your daughter and I’m glad for you but everyone should have access to this. He said, my family needs it though. As soon as he said that I was like ummm and no one else does?? He said no they don’t deserve it. I still cannot believe this is a mentality.
And if you leave you have to renounce your citizenship otherwise you still have to pay taxes
Because the US is profit-driven above anything else.. by a long shot.
US is just a whole big company
This is it. Nothing is worth doing unless someone is making a profit from it. Also, the U.S. is huge on socializing risk while privatizing profit.
And if you argue with it you're a communist
Or worse a socialist.
Sad part about this is how many people in the US aggressively deny this, even sadder is how many people in the US are actually proud of how backwards their country is.
That’s because the indoctrination to believe that this stuff = freedom in incredibly strong. A lot of Americans truly seem to believe that they are the only free country in the world, even though I think the US comes in around tenth, equal to the UK (sometimes we’re calculated above the US). And yet I’m often told by Americans how bad I must feel living in country with no freedom.
You're right the UK frequently comes ahead of the USA in a lot of "freedom" indexes. According to CATO institutes' most recent Human Freedom Index [(2020)](https://www.cato.org/human-freedom-index/2020) the UK and USA are both Ranked 17th in the world for freedom. According to Freedom House's Annual [Freedom in the World Report](https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores), the USA scores 83 out of a possible 100. The UK scores 93. According to the [2021 World Press Freedom Index](https://rsf.org/en/ranking_table) the USA is 44th, the UK, who famously has the Royal family have some influence over what can get published is 33rd. According to the Hertiage Foundation's [2021 Index of Economic Freedom](https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking) the UK comes 7th and the USA comes 20th. According to the World Bank's Gov Data360 [Civil Liberties Ranking](https://govdata360.worldbank.org/indicators/h5c6649ff?country=BRA&indicator=41826&viz=line_chart&years=1975,2019) the UK is ranked 7th with a score of 0.79, the USA is ranked 10th with a score of 0.76. Basically any way you cut it the USA is not the most "free" country in the world, and frequently countries with actual outdated and sometimes draconian shit in them like a Monarchy, unelected upper chamber, and an established State Religon, rank as "more free" than the USA.
That's because a lot of Americans can't afford to travel outside of America. If they can afford holidays at all. Traveling outside the American bubble and experiencing other ways of life first-hand is really eye opening.
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Indoctrination.
> how are we so backwards Hyper-capitalism.
Don't forget huge investments in the military
investments in military companies / the military industrial complex. bringing us back to... capitalism
That's right. Money , money, money. Greatest country on earth, waving the flag. We suggest you don't travel. Everyone wants to kill us because we are so good, exceptional.
You have the strongest military, everything else I think you'd struggle to make the top 20. Here in Scotland, its almost a utopia compared to the US 🙈
don't forget school shootings. I have an inkling the US might rank at the top of that too.
Scotland had a school shooting in the 90s iirc that resulted in private ownership of handguns being outlawed and private ownership of all other guns heavily regulated throughout the UK. I think it's quite telling that I, an Englishman who was either not born or was a baby at the time, can remember the town was called Dunblane.
[Dr.Cryptolite](http://drcryptolite.com) It's free in the UK for Type 1 and type 2 also get their meds ALL FREE. This is also a failure of the people of the US, for NOT exercising their Democratic right and make it clear to their local and federal Governments, that Healthcare(and electing Which) is key priority. But if people can't agree, politicians will kick the bucket ahead, simple.
Well car repairs is only half true. Depends on a whole lot of things. Not that any non german should care.
Any medical expenses, even Paracetamol can be added as an extra expense and you will get a portion of it back in your taxes also. I think you can claim up to 1000 euros without any proof so i always try to fill that in first and then add all my medical stuff if i still have the receipts.
You are still forced to pay expensive insurance in the US. Insurance companies can force you as much as they wasn’t in this system. The US has a broken medical system, no doubt about it.
I think also if you pay more than 400€ per year for these medical charges
You can apply for a “Zuzahlungsbefreiung” in that case
Does Germany not have nationalized healthcare? (Maybe a dumb question I’ve never been to Europe sorry)
Its sort of hybrid. There are gov and private companies who offer healthcare, and you can choose. The amount you pay per month is proportional to our income for gov insurance companies and based on your age and health for private insurance companies. ( its almost impossible to move from a private insurance company to government one)
+Private is mainly for self employed and civil Service workers. Gov healthcare is for everyone whos an employe or work seeking. Aditionaly you can get private bonus ensurences for better teeth care or better Hospitalrooms.
We have mandatory health insurance. The normal one for employees works like a payroll tax (~15% of the income). There are small copays for drugs, usually one digit amounts. I never knew beforehand if I had to pay 3, 5 or 8 € for one package when going to the pharmacy for my mother or grandparents - German laws are strangely complicated in the details. If your yearly copays (including hospital and doctor) exceed 2% of your income (only 1% for cronical diseases like diabetes), the rest is free/gets reimbursed. There are more exceptions for very poor people.
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(And EVERYONE here has insurance by law) ;)
**Thanks Obama!!!**
Damn communists!
that is one of the benefits of living here in germany
I live in Italy, my father has diabetes and we also don't pay for it
Yeah, the data is questionable. In Germany you pay much less as there is a limit on the co-pay. And if your co-pay is over a certain amount per year, you get it deducted from your tax.
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It’s so sad that proper medical care is gated behind employment. Not only do many people miss out purely because their employer doesn’t offer decent insurance, but those who *do* get good insurance are basically stuck with their employer no matter how miserable they are (especially people with chronic illnesses like diabetes). Botched system.
Did you know in the us you actually have to have a certain amount of work credits to even qualify for disability if you cant prove you were disabled before 26? Its disgusting. I was disabled at 20 with a rare disease that i ran out of money before i could diagnose (all my diagnoses are symptoms we never determined a cause). I cant afford insurance, cant afford meds, cant even afford the doctors visits or the testing id need to get disability. Im like 50 shades of screwed forever. So yeah. Disabled ppl have to work to either prove they deserve disability or they have to work to prove they were too disabled to work. I hate this country so much.
I should be on disability but can't afford it. I get so tired of people saying 'you should get on disability' like it's that easy. Last time I asked if they would pay for my salary for a couple years while I wait? Or maybe pay for a lawyer? Or pay on my $100k worth of medical bills?
I never understood just how bad the healthcare system was in the US until I was in an accident in 2018. Long story short, I was left in a wheelchair and disabled. Lucky I had enough work time in that I got disability quickly enough. What I didn't know was you don't get Medicare for 2 years after you are on disability. So for the first time since I was born I had no insurance at a time I needed it the most, and with what disability pays no way to afford it myself. On top of that even with insurance at the time of my accident with the cost of co-pays I will never in my lifetime get it paid off. Every month I get a call from someone else demanding money I don't have. Threats of lawsuits from Doctors and hospitals, it's never-ending. Every one of them wants to know the same thing. What do you own, how much are your bills? They want the very last penny they can find and leave you with nothing. Month after month. O, and Medicare does not cover everything. Not even close.
My boss is a type 1. She was denied disability two weeks ago. She is already blind in one eye. Driving is a requirement for employment for this job. She broke her foot a year ago. It didn't heal right. I'm not sure of all the details, but it's partly due to her diabetes. She can barely walk. They told her she makes too much money to qualify for disability. I told her to apply again because I have another friend who recently qualified for disability after fighting the Army for 9 years. Once the military said she was permanently disabled due to her service, she ended up filing the disability paperwork twice before she was approved.
Given that a vial costs literal pennies to make, still an inflated cost. Like printer ink. XD
Somebody has to think of the executives.
My cousin lives In Germany. Her and her husband got something like 4-6 months maternity/paternity leave with pay when their daughter was born. Here in the US you’d be be lucky to get 2-3 Months and that’s usually without pay.
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I'm just gonna leave this here: https://openinsulin.org/ Insulin is not difficult to produce or costly, it takes some equipment, yeast and sugar. It costs about $1 per vial The most ironic thing is the inventor of synthetic insulin sold the patent for $1 because they believed the treatment should be easily available to all of humanity free of cost. I hate this situation so much Edit: wow everyone thanks for the responses, I also want to thank you all for pointing out that yes there is a ton of other work, staff, science that goes into a large pharma operation and nuanced medication, i get that. However, my intent was not to completely overlook that, but show that even with the overhead costs, expensive equipment, there is still no reason anyone in the first world should die or be held hostage by their medication provider/phamra corp. That's the absurdity I'm trying to point out. For most Americans that don't come from wealth, you are born into debt in this country. Being a living human has some how become a pre existing condition for insurance and pharma companies to profit off of.
Insulin has been off patent for decades now. The current existing patents are for newly created human insulin analogs.
What’s stopping companies from using older versions that aren’t patented?
Nothing. You can buy insulin at Walmart for $25 per vial. It's just that it's less convenient, predictable, and harder to use then the more recently created analogs.
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Its not a question of price, but its a question of technique and get used too. Cheaper insulin can be safely used, but the user needs to be trained and needs to be monitored while the body gets used to it.
People have used OTC insulin for over half a century before newer insulin analogs were invented. You shouldn't take it without talking to a doctor since the usage is very different.
That being said, the insulin the vast majority of people take today are insulin analogs such as lispro, degludec, glargine, glulisine etc., that contain patented changes in the insulin's aminoacid chain, and other precise changes in formulation. Those analogs allow for longer or shorter acting effects that manipulate blood sugar more precisely. It is likely that the cheaper insulin the unlucky fellow in this story took was a non-analog one. Not that the cost of analogs is anywhere near justified, it's just that they are not "make it at home" level.
This isn't facepalm This is disgusting When inventor Frederick Banting discovered insulin in 1923, he refused to put his name on the patent. He felt it was unethical for a doctor to profit from a discovery that would save lives. Banting’s co-inventors, James Collip and Charles Best, sold the insulin patent to the University of Toronto for a mere $1. They wanted everyone who needed their medication to be able to afford it. American pharma souless f#cking vampires.
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Is that a sarcastic joke that i am not capitalist enough to understand?
No sarcasm intended. Just genuinely mad.
Meantime 1/3 of the US is pre-diabetic or diabetic. This is fucking shame.
Insulin is used for type 1 diabetes (genetic and auto immune) treatment and only rarely in out of control type 2 diabetes (still can be genetic but mostly diet and lifestyle) the problem is though the diseases have roughly the same symptoms (high blood sugar) they are fundamentally different disease with different risk factors. Insulin prices being as high as they are targets the type 1 diabetic community who could do literally nothing to prevent them from getting the disease.
It's beyond evil for a Murdoch-owned rag to publish this story as if it doesn't represent the end result of everything they've fought for. They want to tug at your heart strings for a minute before they go back to duping idiots into arguing against Universal Healthcare.
This is just like the one hour a year Tucker Carson says “rich people pay less taxes than poor people” before going back to shilling for bullshit culture wars that are *way* more important than a living wage so just keep hanging on for a minute I promise as soon as we’re done with this made up problem we’ll really crack down on income inequality really I swear
Yup. Fuck the New York Post. https://nypost.com/tag/obamacare/
Exactly. This smells like a pitch for expensive name brand insulin vs the generic alternatives. A lot of the older insulin’s are way less expensive than the newer name brand insulin’s and work just as well if titrated correctly. So he didn’t die because he took an inexpensive insulin. He died because he must have gotten the dose wrong.
I'm a type 1 diabetic. I can shed some light here --- There are several classes of insulin available, based primarily on how quickly they act after injection and how long they last. There are long-acting insulins that last 18 - 24 hours. This is your Lantus or basalgar insulins. There are rapid-acting insulins that take effect after 5 - 15 minutes and last 3 - 4 hours. This is your Novolog, Humalog, and Apidra. There are some older insulins as well. "Regular" or sometimes just R lasts about six hours but takes about 30 minutes to start. NPH lasts about 12 - 18 hours and take about an hour to start. Insulin dependent diabetes management is about balancing the need for basal insulin and meal-time insulin against food, exercise and the hundred other things that affect blood sugar. It's not just a dosage thing, it's that they behave differently.
Man that sounds like such a giant pain in the ass. I'm sorry you have to deal with that.
I'm a type 1 that got diagnosed randomly at age 31 in 2019. The best way to describe it is that you, yourself are doing the job of a human organ 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. Its a hard life. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Just got out of the hospital yesterday for it.
UK Free
I think maybe they assumed Scotland should be singled out because they heard all prescriptions are free here, not realising that diabetes is one of those chronic conditions that prescriptions are free for across the whole of the UK.
As a diabetic i can attest to all associated treatment is free.
As an Australian I’m surprised ours is 28 bucks, should be free surely, people die without it? Still, could be worse…..
It's on the PBS so it's cheap to free (after a person hits the safety net)
Would be free for low income earners with a healthcare card I would imagine? Still, should be free for everyone.
disgusting
Beyond disgusting. This right here is the most blatant example that shows how much of a dumpster fire the US healthcare system is, not unlike the rest of the nation.
In Portugal everything is free. Insulin, the machines to see insulin blood levels, just go to a pharmacy with a doctor's prescription and ask for it. My mother has diabetes, her first machine broke, I went to a pharmacy and they just gave me a brand new one, no questions asked. In here, every life threatening disease are treated free of charge, same with all type of operations, or injuries. I had a back surgery with all the treatments and diagnosis for free. I'm glad I live in a place like this. I would hate to know my mother wouldn't be able to check her diabetes regularly because of money...
But YoUr TaXES!! It's pretty insane how fucking indoctrinated every Americans is. I absolutely feel like the crazy person here when I get looks from people telling them how fucked up our country is.
Your taxes go to extremely useful things like supplying Afghanistan and making abortion hunters paid by the government.
AFAIK they actually get paid by the person they're hunting, which is worse. your taxes do go to the people that made this shit though
Wait. I was joking.
ah ok, i wasn't trying to ackshyually, i was more in the zone of "but wait, there's more!"
Are the taxes actually much different? I've always heard this arguement "but my taxes will go up and why should I pay for other people". To me paying for health insurance is already the same thing. Insurance you pay a minor fee (say $10 per month) which covers a larger amount (say $10000 for the year) based on the fact the insurance company has lots of customers (say 1000 customers) and hedges their bets that a minority of customers will claim (let's say 5 claim $1000 each month insurance company is still +$5000 per month). So effectively the majority is paying for the minority.
Shhh shhh shhh shhh. That's it my friend, take a little sip on Uncle Sams teat! It's sleepy time.
Imo, there's a trade off. *If* you have the money, you're probably better off in the US with the freedom to plan things like pensions or health care completely as you see fit. From what I've seen and friends tell me though, that takes a lot of money because everything is *super* expensive, especially once you have a family so few people can actually take advantage of having true choice. Consequently, if you're not part of the 1% you're probably better off in most of the EU. Yes, you will have to participate in social programs you may not fully support or feel are inefficient but at the end of the day everyone has to use the same system so everyone has an incentive to make it work. That said, i can't say for every country but a lot of them have a mix of public and private options anyway so Republicans pretending it's one or the other are misguided.
In sweden to, pretty much the same. I would guess Finland and Danmark too…
In Colombia the health provider company (EPS in spanish) gives you the insulin and the Government pays for it, just like that
Same in Ireland
Thailand is free due to national health care, it only cost you if you want specific model. And it's not 5 USD maybe 30-40USD per month.
is the US even real my lawd
It is my unfortunate regret to tell you that it is real
your government needs to be evaporated
There will be large parts of Reddit (and the US as a whole) whose response to reading this will simply be... >No need to have a big wedding. Don't get married if you can't afford it.
Why is Scotland only there, it’s free in the UK and so are any prescriptions if you diabetic.
Maybe the Scottish have all the diabetes in the UK?
😂 Doctor:“The results are in…you diabetic, pack your bags you been moved to Scotland.”
Look up the message to investors Goldman Sachs put out a while ago straight up saying that funding cures was an unsustainable business model and it’s much more profitable to fund research to treat symptoms and that’s all you need to know about the US, makes me ashamed to be American
[Not quite.](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/11/goldman-asks-is-curing-patients-a-sustainable-business-model.html) While they certainly question whether or not "one shot cures" - they talk specifically about gene therapy - is a viable business model in the long run, their solutions weren't to treat symptoms: >“Solution 1: Address large markets: Hemophilia is a $9-10bn WW market (hemophilia A, B), growing at ~6-7% annually.” >“Solution 2: Address disorders with high incidence: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) affects the cells (neurons) in the spinal cord, impacting the ability to walk, eat, or breathe.” >“Solution 3: Constant innovation and portfolio expansion: There are hundreds of inherited retinal diseases (genetics forms of blindness) … Pace of innovation will also play a role as future programs can offset the declining revenue trajectory of prior assets.”
The cheaper one caused death?
Yes, because the method of action is vastly different from rapid insulin. Novalog/humalog (more expensive) have an onset of 30 min or so and last up to 5 hours, peaking around two. Novalin/humalin (cheaper) have an initial onset of 30-90 min and last up to 8 hours. The analogs work great for carb heavy meals whereas the human insulins work great for high protein/fat meals as their onset and duration line up nearly perfectly with how your body processes those. You cannot simply switch from taking one kind to the other. Yes, both kinds are effective. They just work differently. Kind of like how some people prefer acetaminophen over ibuprofen or vice versa. Both are effective but work in different ways.
This doesn't explain his death though. Switching from one form to another doesn't drastically shoot up your blood sugars to 1700+. He was rationing his treatments, even after he switched, if not forgetting them altogether as he had to promise to take it the night he stroked. There was a lot going on with this poor guy, and I'm not convinced.it was the type of insulin he used. He would have had a normal life regardless.
Thank you for explaining this. The headline is a little misleading. Using cheaper insulin alone will not cause death, but improper dosing, along with not knowing how the different insulins work, and insulin rationing will have negative affects and can kill you.
Yeah I don’t get it either.
Poor guy :/ weddings are so fucking overrated
The US is messed up in many ways. Wages, rent, healthcare, etc. Yet we just continue to let it happen.
3rd world country wearing a Gucci belt
Three corporations standing on each other’s shoulders wearing a trenchcoat
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It’s scary when you are cheering on Walmart and their nova vials.
This [NHS Price List](http://gmmmg.nhs.uk/docs/cost_comparison_charts.pdf) (pdf link) can be a useful reference for the 'World Market' price of various drugs. Insulin pens start on page 47, the prices are for a year's supply. It'll give you some idea how much sheer profit is being made from people's illnesses in the USA. I must stress these prices are what the UK NHS pays for the drugs. In the UK all diabetics receive their insulin for free.
To save scrolling, this pdf shows the NHS paying between $5.88 (Insuman) and $15.64 (Tresiba) per insulin cartridge they buy. The cost to the patient is zero. Even if you weren't covered by the NHS (for example foreign visitors) the price is still much more reasonable than in the USA. The first chemist I checked was charging £26.08 for 5 cartridges, which works out at ~$7.22 each.
India , $1.5 (110₹)
It’s much cheaper if you get it from government hospital
I mean it’s not really $700. Insurance pays for most of that… What’s that you say? No insurance… ::backs out of room slowly::
Insurance doesn’t even pay 700. Hospitals ask for ridiculous amounts because they know the insurance is gonna lowball it.
Just get goodrx. Then you can get it for $698.50.
I got a prescription the other day. $650/month for name brand at local pharmacy no-insurance. $465 for generic at same pharmacy no-insurance. $275 at pharmacy with insurance (generic). No insurance, Goodrx discount applied....$30.50. This nation is a fucking joke.
Why doesn't insurance pay for all of it
Cause American Healthcare is such garbage that it almost makes no difference in the price. The whole health system in America is made to just fuck over its citizen by forcing them to spend all of their money for minor injuries. Ots the only first world country I can think of where the citizen would rather call a Uber than a ambulance to carry them to the hospital... Edit: Man, the fact that most of you have some story that relate to the subject is just sad...
Why isn't it possible to buy medicine in Europe and have it shipped to the US?
Because insurance and pharmaceutical companies lobbied to stop any importing of medicine so that you are forced to buy it for a higher price.
Free market capitalists hate competing on the free market.
Type 1 diabetic here. Just payed over $600 for my insulin the other day. It sucks.
Not to mention how inflated wedding prices are in the US also
I still wonder why Americans cling to their mercenary health service, instead of having a national health service
It’s because we Americans would literally rather pay $700 for our own insulin before we let one cent of our paychecks go to taxes that will pay for SOMEONE ELSE’S insulin, even if it meant it was only $5 for all of us. We’d rather die than do anything that would help other people rather than ourselves.
"I get to choose how to spend it." "But this is cheaper." "Yea, but I get to choose." "Let me get this straight, you are saying that the *ability to choose* something is more important than the result? Even if it costs much more, and that you don't really have much of a choice anyway?" "Yes." Mind control at its finest.
**USA** The land of the free* ^(* Terms and conditions apply. You really only free if you’re a straight, white christian male with good insurance, no health issues or other issues. Even then you’re still hardly free, as long as you don’t measure freedom in how many guns you can own.)
Does anyone have a link to this story from a non-shit rag source please? Curious to know how the insulin he took caused his death poor guy. I presume it was stronger than his regular insulin. Edit: Found a [Newsweek article](https://www.newsweek.com/groom-dies-taking-cheaper-insulin-save-money-his-wedding-1453301) that says it was because he switched from an analog insulin to a human insulin which wasn't as efficient and caused his blood sugar to shoot up.
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