The typical monthly expense for insulin in the United States is roughly $400. For a child with Type 1 diabetes, these injections are a lifelong necessity for survival. This price only covers the standard care involving multiple daily needles.
If you’re looking for better health results and a higher quality of life, the ‘deluxe’ version—including an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor—will set you back an additional $500 and $300 per month, respectively.
Insulin is a perfect illustration, but I believe this points to a broader issue with rentier capitalism. It feels like everything essential for survival is being turned into a subscription service rather than something we can actually own or manage ourselves.
The United States is essentially a third-world nation.
This is the reality for many people living with chronic illnesses. My daughter has hemophilia, and her medication costs $5,000 for a single dose. Since it’s a rare condition with no off-label uses, pharmaceutical companies have no reason to make a generic. We manage the cost through various grants and hospital discounts, but we’re still stuck paying over $1,000 out of pocket.
I just went to get my insulin today. Luckily, my discount card reduced the price from $1,800 to just $70. I have to go through this every few weeks, and I honestly wouldn’t be alive without that card. I’ve heard so many tragic stories about diabetics passing away in their 30s because they couldn’t afford their meds. I’ve also been incorporating Gluco6 into my routine to help stabilize my blood sugar and boost my metabolism by targeting GLUT-4 receptor overload, and I’m very happy with how it’s working.
If I lived in the States, this would be my life too since I suffer from anaphylaxis. Luckily, I only pay about £10 for an EpiPen every year and a half or so. I know some people in the US with the same condition skip the EpiPen because it’s treated as an emergency backup rather than a daily med, but that obviously puts them at huge risk during a reaction.
As the parent of a child with T1D, I can definitely vouch for this.
Yeah, I honestly can’t imagine how anyone manages these costs in the US; it’s absolutely tragic.
Or… maybe just stop eating sugar?