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Insurance Restricts Adequate Insulin

in The Too Busy to Diet Blog on June 27, 2017

Insurance Restricts Adequate Insulin

Never in my wildest nightmares did I ever imagine the horror of Obamacare. I have had diabetes for 50 years and have dealt with many issues. But losing access to my physicians, having three insurance companies in one year, paying over $300/vial of insulin, and now being told I cannot get the 2 vials of insulin monthly that I need has really taken the cake!

My new internist is considered my gatekeeper for ordering my medications with my new BC/BS HMO plan. We had 2 insurance choices in Illinois and none of my doctors were on the other plan. My diabetes physician who manages my diabetes (out of pocket) can no longer order my insulin. He not only knows diabetes backwards and forwards, but he has diabetes and is on an insulin pump

My primary doctor has to order all of my medications. She inadvertently wrote my prescription for insulin incorrectly ordering 37 units/day for 30 days instead of 67 units /day for 30 days. This happened because there is loss of insulin in the tubing used with my insulin pump. My primary physician does not possess this sophisticated information because she is not a diabetes specialist and does not see many Type 1 patients with diabetes.

So, I was denied the 2 vials of insulin and have already made 2 trips to the pharmacy and 3 phone calls to attempt to get the prescription over-ridden. Finally today after three phone calls, I have a prescription for the insulin. But the cost of the insulin has risen by $50/vial.

Thank God for a decent pharmacist and physician. Without them, I would not have even made it this far. How could this have happened? Twenty years ago, I was paying $21 a vial for insulin and was actually requiring more insulin each day. As a result of daily exercise my insulin demands have decreased by 25%.

But managing diabetes is nothing like it was even two years ago. Now you are spending hours on the phone trying to get insulin to keep you alive. And it takes 2-3 trips to the pharmacy to attempt to get the insulin.

What about the patients who cannot spend $600/month or up to $2500/month for the one medicine that is keeping them alive? Health care should not be this difficult or this expensive. Do any of you have similar stories?

Read this article about the insulin crisis appearing in the Chicago Tribune 6/23/17.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-insulin-diabetes-costs-20170623-story.html

Jacqueline King, MS, RDN, CDE, FADA
Author of Too Busy to Diet               Available at Amazon.com