My son was a T1D. The cost of his diabetic medications and equipment was more than $2000 a month.
No middle class family can afford that. That didn’t include dr appts, tests, and medications for illnesses that he was particularly vulnerable to.
The disease was nobody’s fault. I didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t do anything wrong. It just happened.
So what’s your answer? Let the child die?
We’re at a crux where medicine has progressed to the point where we can perform miracles, but it’s too cost prohibitive to get those miracles to everybody. The only way out is to drive costs down.
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
It looks like Wal-Mart is trying to do something about this and are pressuring manufacturers to lower the prices. It also looks like the twice a day injection is very significantly cheaper than the once a day. I haven’t dealt with this, you have. Is it practicable to ask the doc to switch the meds to something on Wal-Mart’s list?
“My son was a T1D. The cost of his diabetic medications and equipment was more than $2000 a month. No middle class family can afford that.”
Totally agree. Type I diabetes is a cruel twist of fate (and genetics), and the children who get this deserve help - however it comes. As a society, we are giving entitlements to many people who are either responsible for their own issues (including their own health issues), or who have the capacity to contribute - but don’t. How can anyone justify that, and then let unfortunate children like this fend for themselves?
As an aside, it really shouldn’t cost as much as it does, and there is way too much price inflation involved in this. That’s a separate issue though.
>We’re at a crux where medicine has progressed to the point where we can perform miracles, but it’s too cost prohibitive to get those miracles to everybody. The only way out is to drive costs down.<
And therein lies the huge problem. I have a friend who developed T1 diabetes when she was 50. She’s on a pump and the cost is mind-boggling. I’m not sure how our society would go about driving the costs of the supplies down, except with subsidies. And, looking at how subsidies have driven the cost of things like college and hospital costs at large, I think we’re at an impasse. Price fixing would make manufacturers limit their output, which would be catastrophic for patients.