This is so sad. You can not afford 1200 a month when you work for a dog kennel. When we were on Medicaid, they would not cover the insulin my husband took when we paid 1200 a month for cobra Ins. Even now the Medicare supplemental Ins. Doesn’t want to pay for his type of insulin. Only cheaper one.
Diabetes seems like exactly the sort of thing one would expect insurance or Medicaid to cover. It’s not like it’s something rare or exotic. Insulin treatment is hardly experimental, it’s been around for decades. I mean... what good is insurance that doesn’t cover treatment for such a common disorder?
A good doctor or diabetes educator would prescribe alternative cheaper alternatives with the corresponding sliding scales if a patient can’t afford the more expensive analogs or long acting versions such as lantus.
Cheaper Humulin short acting and Humulin N(intermediate acting) Insulins have been around since the 80’s and many diabetics got and still get on just fine with them as long as they stuck to their diet plans and approved calorie exchanges(you can have the one slice(very small piece) of Birthday cake but decrease the sugar and calories in another area).
The more expensive analogs and steady state Insulins have been only brought on in the last 15 years or so which have been beneficial in smoothing out some of the extreme peaks and valleys of Insulin actions vs glucose levels allowing a more beneficial human like steady supply of glucose. They work better even when a cold or infection can alter glucose levels in diabetics(makes the insulin not work as well while the patient is ill). Yet they are very expensive so the older alternatives remain, though glucose levels need more careful monitoring when these older products are used.