Democrats' Kabuki Theater: Epipen edition

Funny how in an election year, Democrats suddenly become concerned about obscenely high, rapacious pharmaceutical prices for drugs known to be heavily used by children. Before this year, bupkis. All we heard was how great the ACA (more popularly referred to as Obamacare) was working to bring down healthcare costs. Well, maybe healthcare prices for certain things, but control of the the high prices that create Big Pharma's monstrous profits? Not so much.

But hey, we're in the middle of the general election campaign, and the clock is ticking! Time for Democrats to express concern over Big Bad Drug Companies and time to care about the "children." And this year's whipping boy is - Mylan, the producer of Epipens, which have been overpriced for over a decade! And who better to print the Senate Democrats 'press release' showing us they feel our pain than The Hill:

Democratic lawmakers released a letter on Wednesday from Andy Slavitt, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), confirming that EpiPen maker Mylan had misclassified the device — in effect, overcharging taxpayers for its product.

The revelation is the latest turn involving Mylan, which has recently faced outrage from both parties over its 400 percent-plus increase in the price of EpiPens in the past few years.

The letter from Slavitt, released by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), confirms that Mylan has misclassified the EpiPen as a generic drug, as opposed to a brand drug, since 1997. That means Mylan was only giving Medicaid a 13 percent discount on its product, instead of a 23.1 percent discount.

Hillary in trouble? A bad look for her that so many big pharmaceutical companies have contributed to her campaign and her family's foundation, even Mylan, the maker of and profiteer gouging Americans by overpricing Epipens? Time to call Mylan on the carpet an make an example of it as the designated scapegoat!

“Today’s letter is more evidence that while Mylan irresponsibly raised the price of EpiPen, they were also bilking taxpayers out of millions of dollars,” Wyden and Pallone said in a statement.

“Essential medicines like EpiPen are increasingly out of reach for families across the nation due to unjustified price hikes, and it’s high time for drug companies to take responsibility for their actions. We will ensure taxpayers get their due.”

You know, I'd almost believe them -almost - if they hadn't let this slide for over a decade, back as farv as the First Clinton Presidency. Not to mention all the other drugs that are far more costly in the USA than in the rest of the world. Are the Dems going to do anything about that? They haven't so far, and it's not like we haven't had a Democrat in the Oval office for the last eight years. And yet we are still faced with this:

Drug prices.jpg

So don't expect the Democrats under Hillary Clinton to actually do anything more than hand out a few slaps on the wrist to Big Pharma, if that. But in the meantime, who doesn't like a good Punch and Judy show?

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these people will STILL vote for her. They know all the things we know, they do see it, they just see it as either/or, when it is really a neither/nor situation. My SO has a sticker on her truck 'I can explain it to you but I can't make you understand it'. Yet she will vote for $hills. I keep trying, subtly.

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Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .

Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .

If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march

earthling1's picture

Viagra going from $4 each to $55 each. None of those congresscritters will complain because that would be an admission they need it.
Oh the irony.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Lily O Lady's picture

cost. So we're screwed yet again.

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

Wink's picture

for the bang! yikes!

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

I see what you did there.

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You keep using that word...

riverlover's picture

who cannot get beyond Trumpophobia to look at alternates to the Heinous.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Silly me.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Why would she do that? She *said* there's no evidence that any contribution changed her position on any issue.

Sadly, this may be the one time she's being completely honest: She was planning to screw us *before* she got the dough.

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You keep using that word...

Oldest Son Of A Sailor's picture

You get what you pay for...

Screen Shot 2016-10-06 at 8.04.10 PM.png

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"Do you realize the responsibility I carry?
I'm the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House."

~John F. Kennedy~
Economic: -9.13, Social: -7.28,

Piffle. That's a mere four hours' "work" for her.

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You keep using that word...

Medicare for All. So what DO they want? 1990's style Hillarycare? All the little people in HMO's run by the individual states?

Forked tongues, both of them. If I thought Trump had a ghost of a chance in Illinois I would vote for him instead of Stein, just to stop those monsters' return.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/04/politics/bill-clinton-obamacare-craziest-t...

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

link

Tennessee is ground zero for ObamaCare’s nationwide implosion. Late last month the state insurance commissioner, Julie Mix McPeak, approved premium increases of up to 62% in a bid to save the exchange set up under the Affordable Care Act. “I would characterize the exchange market in Tennessee as very near collapse,” she said.

Then last week BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee announced it would leave three of the state’s largest exchange markets—Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville. “We have experienced losses approaching $500 million over the course of three years on ACA plans,” the company said, “which is unsustainable.” As a result, more than 100,000 Tennesseans will be forced to seek out new coverage for 2017.

BlueCross is only the latest insurer to head for the exits. Community Health Alliance, the insurance co-op established under ObamaCare, is winding down due to financial failure, leaving 30,000 people without coverage. UnitedHealthcare said in April it is departing Tennessee’s exchange after significant losses. That’s another 41,000 people needing new plans.

All told, more than 60% of our state’s ObamaCare consumers will lose their coverage heading into 2017. When they go in search of a replacement plan, they will confront two unfortunate realities: a dearth of options and skyrocketing costs.

Seventy-three out of Tennessee’s 95 counties will have only one insurer on the exchange, meaning no meaningful competition whatsoever. In regions where BlueCross BlueShield is pulling out, there will be two remaining major carriers, Cigna and Humana. The only large metro area with more options will be Chattanooga.

Then there are the premiums. State regulators have already approved the highest annual rise in the nation, a weighted average of nearly 56%, according to data at ACASignups.net. The rate increases authorized in late August include an average of 62% for BlueCross BlueShield, 46% for Cigna and 44% for Humana. The latter two companies could ask to revise their rates upward depending on how many former BlueCross consumers they pick up.

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Wink's picture

these insurance companies are losing money? They offer a product not many of us can afford to use. It's like buying a car, making the payments, but can't afford the gas to drive it. Most of us can barely afford the payments ~err Premium, and the -ahem - "deductible" makes it impossible to use. How are these companies not making a fortune?

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

snoopydawg's picture

Some people are paying more for their premiums then they are for their mortgages.
And banks don't let people pay more than 30% for mortgages.
There should have been limits placed on how much percentages people should have to pay.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

Steven D's picture

High overhead, particularly in the executive suite.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

k9disc's picture

And don't they make most of their money in markets? How do they even know what they're profit margins are given the long term nature of the Stock Market and Real Estate.

My guess is they are booking assets as costs to evade taxes and increase leverage.

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

Wink's picture

one of the Big Three, knocking down six figures a year. What I found hillaryous was they don't provide health care plans for their employees! Not even those knocking down six figures. Would put a dent in their bottom line. "We're here to make money, not supply health care... " Corporate fucks at their best.

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the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Unabashed Liberal's picture

the state's Medicaid System years ago, so there would likely be much a tremendous pent up demand for medical services/care for a large number of Tennesseans.

I wrote about this several years ago, an essay which was reposted, and added to at NC. If I can find my essay at the original blog (I never keep a copy of anything), I'll repost it. The essay included an excellent video describing the devastation that Bredesen wrought, especially upon 'uninsurable's' in the State. IOW, the population that was not necessarily low income, but that no insurance company would cover, even medically-rated.

Here's an excerpt from Democratic Governor Phil Bredesen's Wikipedia entry, below.

Bredesen became governor amidst a fiscal crisis, with a predicted state budget shortfall of $800 million. Much of the budget shortfall was due to TennCare, which was $650 million over budget.[1] His predecessor, Sundquist, had hoped to remedy the budget shortfall by implementing an income tax, but this proved wildly unpopular and was never enacted.[13]

Bredesen argued that in order to fix the budget, services would have to be cut, later stating, "you can't have Massachusetts services and Tennessee taxes."[13]

In 2003, he signed a 9% across-the-board spending cut.[1] In 2004, he enacted a series of changes to TennCare, essentially removing 191,000 Medicaid-eligible patients and reducing benefits.

By 2006, these changes had reduced the program's cost by more than $500 million. [1]

Bredesen used some of the savings to establish a "safety net" for health clinics affected by the cuts. In 2006, he implemented "Cover Tennessee" to provide coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and the uninsured.[1]

[Reparagraphed for emphasis.]

At one time, the Cover Tennessee plans were so ridiculous, as to not be considered actual health insurance, but a medical 'discount' program. The TN legislature considered capping the annual benefit at approximately $10,000 per beneficiary. Not sure what the outcome was, but I believe the bill was defeated, at least once.

Mollie


“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit, and, therefore, to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)

National Mill Dog Rescue (NMDR) - Dogs Available For Adoption

Update: Misty May has been adopted. Yeah!

Misty May - NMDR

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Oh, they're probably making money, just not *enough* money. Shareholder interest and all that noise. Even if they could operate these plans on a break even basis, they're nah. gon. do it. Most of them are laying off support staff and putting more push behind their Medicare Advantage offerings. Which _really_ puts the lie to what they're doing: they can't insure younger people, but they're happy to insure older folks, who have on average 3+ serious chronic ailments. Why? Because they all HAVE to have Medicare (can't get private insurance if you're 62+ now). Population ALL in the risk pool = $$$$. That's a pretty easy formula for the bean counters to understand.

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You keep using that word...

solublefish's picture

what is really going on here behind the insurance company claims blandly repeated in the story. Are they really losing money on the ACA in TN, or are they fudging the figures? If they are not losing money, why would they leave?

I know one thing: I would not for a second trust any of these companies' own reports. Lying, cheating, dissimulation, and lawbreaking are inherent features of corporate capitalism - not anomalies. But businesses on this scale make decisions based on bottom-line calculations. Knowing the details might offer some empirical insight into the actual policy weaknesses of the ACA (which many of us argued was a poorly crafted bad idea from the start).

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

just not meeting their desired margin of profit.

(Did not intend to defend insurers; just thought I'd point out that since the Medicaid/TennCare policies for over a decade have been extremely punishing for lower income Tennesseans (hence, many have received no health care), there is probably some room to believe that the insurers cost are relatively high. Still, no excuse for them to bail, IMO.)

Mollie


“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit, and, therefore, to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

solublefish's picture

But I have no way of knowing without data.

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I wonder if it boils down to expected profits being lower than expected? I've seen multiple cases of massive profits being used as examples of corporations 'having lost money', although perhaps much of that was required for such things as stock buy-backs and CEO bonuses?

Edit: the Typo Queen mis-strikes again!

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Amanda Matthews's picture

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I'm tired of this back-slapping "Isn't humanity neat?" bullshit. We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are. - Bill Hicks

Politics is the entertainment branch of industry. - Frank Zappa

solublefish's picture

I had missed that one.

Yup, it's the new rentier "business" model, written into NAFTA, TPP, TPIP, etc: corporate profits are to be guaranteed. Human life? Not so much. Humans being exist only to serve the machine...

Something seems wrong with that picture, but I just can't quite figure what it is.

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I was reading an article in passing and a noted doctor specializing in diabetes was getting frustrated over the lack of progress for a number of patients. He asked them and they all said insulin was too expensive for them. I asked a pharmacy tech how much a vial of the commonly used insulin costs and he said about $250.

And ironically enough it has been Walmart that has blazed the way on inexpensive insulin. A person can get one vial for $25. There is no reason for insulin to be so expensive.

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riverlover's picture

He was likely a brittle diabetic, I was RXed Vetsulin, still derived from pig pancreas or maybe made by GMO (People!!!! have a problem here?). No insurance, his Rx was 3 vials/month, I was using less by symptoms and granted Owner Knows Best status by the vet school. $250/month.

I do know of few diabetic humans personally now. I have no clue as to the different formulations/brands; there is long acting and short (rescue, I guess) acting. Looks like the vultures would be circling that.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

we were convinced animal fat was bad for us and carbs were good. We were told processed oils were good but use very little and grains should make up 1200 cal/day of our diet. Dog food is predominately carbs now. Take your money and buy raw chicken and feed it to your dog and I guarantee their diabetes will disappear.That is what dogs should be eating. Same with the Adults. Eat animal fatty shit like chicken thighs and your diabetes will disappear. You can cook the thighs if you want ;).

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho

riverlover's picture

Deceased dog was on grain-free for the last year. However, I had a dog develop acute pancreatitis after scamming a pork bone, and would have died without an experimental surgery that he survived, one of only two animal that did, but I think it's now standard for intestinal resection.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Nothing else. Their shit isn't even the same as most dogs and it just dries up and blows away. Dogs evolved as carnivores same with humans. We're designed to eat animal fat. I know people don't want to hear it but unless you eat meat you need to take supplements for B12 which is why veggie diets couldn't be right for you. Evolution didn't require vitamin supplements.

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho

My wife decided to feed raw meats to our 1 1/2 year dog and cut out dry food. The dry food we were using was rated as pretty healthy and the priced reflected it. After about 2 weeks noticed our dog had much more energy and seemed to be have slimmed down a bit. Also, the food costs went down as we were getting items like liver and even duck heads (local Asian market has all types of cuts).

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was designed to eat. Darwin did know what he was talking about. Too bad the AMA wasn't as smart as Darwin. They just prescribe drugs to treat the symtoms they NEVER treat the cause.

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho

well if you actually cure somebody, there go your profits.

The gravy is in the maintenance meds: BP, cholesterol, COPD, diabetes, arthritis, psoriasis, MS, Parkinsons, depression, "anxiety."

How many ads have you seen on TV that say "take this and get cured?" NONE, that's how many. Hell, the drug companies have gotten to the point that they're making up new conditions to create new niches. Restless Leg Syndrome? Overactive Bladder? How about Erectile Disfunction? That's not a "diseases" or "condition" it's part of getting old. And there's only one cure for that, so far.

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You keep using that word...

thanatokephaloides's picture

Eat animal fatty shit like chicken thighs and your diabetes will disappear. You can cook the thighs if you want ;).

"Leg quarters" -- leg-and-thigh combos -- are among the cheapest chicken you can buy, too. And tasty. White meat chicken, the shit they keep pushing? Let the poor bird live, for all that's worth!

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

I was fostering a gaggle of kittens, and they all fell ill one at a time, the sniffle, the sneeze , the fever! Crap, never again. One was seriously dying, and a friend referred me to "the cat doctor ". I took the poor fever racked starving kitty there and the doc, who had worked for a pet food Co. starting with Science,told me that cats had never had diabetes until they were fed solid kibble food. She told me never to buy any of that companies products because their niche foods were based on slanted studies involving as few as 20 animals. She ordered up a treat for my kitty, and a plop of something was brought on a paper plate. My kitty, noise plugged with snot, didn't respond until the vet put a fingerful of the gunk into her mouth. Then that kid, who hadn't eaten for days, fell on the glop, gobbled it up and got more. It was raw rabbit. "If you cant get mice," she said"you have to give them raw rabbit until they can hunt the way they are supposed to". That kitty survived and I've never fed a cat dry food since.

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Cora Regina's picture

It's so lean that people can actually die from consuming it for too long because there's not enough fat. Cats are obligate carnivores but IIRC the small mammals that they eat, like mice, have almost double the fat content of an equivalent mass of rabbit meat.

I'm so glad that kitty survived, and that someone knew what to do! I want to raw feed my cats but I haven't been in a position where it's been possible yet. I would like to at least add some raw meat to their diets, if I can.

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Economic: -9.13, Social: -8.56

In the wild, wolves/cats also eat the seed/veggie-packed guts of rodents or any larger animals they bring down and independently eat various greens, berries and what-not. My roommate's dog selects and devours certain of various greens/roots out of those weeds yanked from the yard/garden and also clumps of algae removed from the ornamental pond, which has not been kept circulating this year. (We'd fertilize the garden with all of the shit that keeps happening, but that shit's toxic.) She also adores apples, carrots and various other veggies.

Feeding a diet limited to any one thing results in deficiencies, especially since factory-farm food is high in toxins and low in nutrition, as could be expected by the chemicals/literal garbage both crops and animals are fed/soaked in.

Wild meat is usually much better, but the meat of wild animals can also be quite heavily contaminated even by mining or other industrial pollution apparently originating quite a distance away from the ranges they're found in. Of course, this is not often tested for, but I've encountered warnings about deer and other wild meat consumption in some areas on the internet nonetheless.

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Oldest Son Of A Sailor's picture

Loved fresh rabbit...
Every spring she was sure to get a few young cottontails...
Most of the year she would get field mice, moles, and voles...

If we tried keeping her inside she would start looking humans over...
Her health didn't fail until she got old and no longer wanted to go outside...

zoey.jpg

Zoe shown resting between hunts...

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"Do you realize the responsibility I carry?
I'm the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House."

~John F. Kennedy~
Economic: -9.13, Social: -7.28,

I used to use it. I believe Humulin N is the most widely used insulin along with Humulin R. N-insulin is slow acting and R-insulin is fast acting. Currently I use Lantus. Each vial if purchased over counter, then $330 each. I use three vials a month.

I believe Walmart sells N and R, and vials with mixed N and R.

On another forum, amazing how many people go up to Canada to buy their meds.

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TheJerry's picture

I'm in the same boat, however, if you had non-government insurance (meaning medicare/medicate/military) you can get a discount card from the manufacturer. Obamacare plans are fine, that's what I have. At least for the pen versions for type ii.

I had been using the novolog faster acting, and my doctor switched me to Tresiba, which under my just died Obamacare coop insurance was $35 for 3 pens. I just tried to refill this week and my new BCBS plan (also gold) told me it was going to be $260/3 pens (one month).

So doctor tried Lantus Solostar; that was worse they wanted $360 for 1 month, which at my dosage was less than a month.

From their site, Lantus there is a card that will drop the price by about $200/month for 12 months (presumably you can reup for the next year).

Tresiba, however, has a card that will reduce the price by up to $500/month supply. I had trouble getting it from there website and had to call them, but finally got my Tresiba about an hour ago for $15/3 pens.

And this card last for 24 total fills. (and maybe reuppable).

It's a joke/a ripoff but what do you do?

Anyway, if you use lantus, you can probably use tresiba which is cheaper, and which is really good.

I have been out of tresiba for 2 days with this mess, so I used my old faster insulin yesterday and today and before lunch today, I was actually hypoglycemic for the first time ever (that I know of) because of my "reduced" dose of the fast acting stuff.

Alone, the fast acting stuff wasn't keeping my fasting levels down at night; previously I was lucky to be at 130 after waking up. So the tresiba keeps on working even if you miss doses. I am amazed at it.

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____________________________________________________________________________
"I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it. "
-Niccolo Machiavelli

"Sorry Hillary"
-TheJerry

Unabashed Liberal's picture

that we're looking into--the use of manufacturer's coupons with private versus government insurance. We'll see what Eli Lilly has to say (hopefully).

Mollie


“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit, and, therefore, to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

For a while I went to Levemir when the cost of Lantus shot up under then current plan, but it was not as effective. After being laid off, my new purchased insurance was $100 per prescription of Lantus, which was three vials--averaging out to $33/vial.

Yah, just got mail that my "bronze plan" would go up $200/month. The insurance plan I used renamed their plans to follow the Obamacare gold/sliver/bronze types of coverage.

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TheJerry's picture

These plans are so crazy; yes its been a step forward, but things are still too complex. You really really need to read the fine print on these plans and check to make sure you medicines are covered...I did that with the yearly enrollment, but with the rush to get a new one for 3 months, I didn't pay close attention. I'd had BCBS before and been happy. But not all of their plans are equal.

Yeah definitely check out the cards. It will take the price down to $25 for a box of 3.

That is in fact what they tell you it will do, but with my insurance (which was charging against my deductible) it dropped it by $200 down to $160 from $360 for Lantus. If they hadn't charged against my deductible it would have taken it to $25

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____________________________________________________________________________
"I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to overthrow it. "
-Niccolo Machiavelli

"Sorry Hillary"
-TheJerry

riverlover's picture

How do you you estimate where you are on the blood glucose curve? I am friendly/curious.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

Last H1Ac reading was 7.5. Type ii taking insulin. I discovered I had diabetes by really excessive urination at night. Went to doctor and said the internet tubes said it could be diabetes. She thought it might be a urinary infection. Was diabetes after a simple blood reading. Too high to be pre-diabetic.

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Daenerys's picture

It's Novilin N and R that Walmart carries that's about $26 per vial OTC. My insurance is shit and they want 50% copays for Humalog and Lantus and they don't cover Novolog, never mind that it's the same price as Humalog these days, which is over $400 per box of five pens. I wrote a thing about it at TOS/TOP back when I was still active over there. But anyway I've used the Novolin R the same as Novolog, and my husband's grandpa died in July and he was also diabetic and his grandma gave me all the insulin pens they had left (Humalog and Lantus) and blood sugar test strips. I can use Novolog, Humalog or Novolin R all interchangeably. The vial will last me about a month and a half, before it goes bad. The discount cards from the companies won't help you if you have any insurance, at least last time I checked; maybe it's changed in the last year, but at least there's some option out there for us with no or shit insurance.

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This shit is bananas.

I used to feed our dog gizzards from Brown's Chicken and she loved them. My father gave her raw gizzards and she threw them up. In the USA, chicken is full of disease. Cook the chicken first. At least microwave it long enough to kill the bacteria. Wild carnivores die from contaminated meat also.

I used to enjoy homemade egg nog made with raw eggs. Last time I made it I threw up for days. And the commercial stuff is full of sugar (WHY?).

I would have thought that the brandy would have disinfected it.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Cora Regina's picture

If I may make a suggestion, use ONLY home farmed and/or organic eggs if you plan on eating them raw! I buy mine from a local woman who keeps chickens in her backyard, and have never once gotten sick in spite of routinely using them raw to make mayo, etc. I don't know if they're organic, but I do know that she takes good care of her birds, they look healthy and happy, and they are the damn tastiest eggs I have ever eaten. She has some chickens that lay MONSTROUS white eggs with huge yolks that are absolutely perfect for making mayo! From the chicken's butt to my plate in under a day. If you buy organic from a store, if you get sick they should be able to track exactly where those eggs came from as well.

That's one of the reasons I only buy organic meat and animal products, usually from local farming operations. There are quite a few but that's certainly one of them, I like knowing exactly where my food came from.

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Economic: -9.13, Social: -8.56

I used to be able to buy Amish chickens (from Pennsylvania) in Virginia and they were delicious but very expensive.

My daughter raised chickens in Florida and used the raw eggs. But buying from a supermarket is very dangerous. To top it off, TPP will make it illegal to state country of origin. And you know Hillary was "for it before she was against it" and will "pivot" (I call it lying) right after the election.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

home farmed eggs, you might look into organic eggs, preferably also cage-free, or pasteurized eggs (which will be dried), even a liquid egg substitute for your homemade eggnog. You can buy an egg substitute, but the always accommodating Mr. Google provides recipes for home made egg substitutes.
https://www.google.com/search?q=egg+substitute&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

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Lily O Lady's picture

against salmonella. We should do that here, but instead growers want to feed antibiotics.

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

When ws the last time you personally knew anyone that got salmonella. If your answer is "never" then stop watching the TV and listening to clowns like Matt Lauer.

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho

Lily O Lady's picture

The New York Times among others. The first source listed credits the vaccinations for a drop in cases of salmonella in the U.K.

I don't know anyone who has ever gotten tetanus either, but I still get the shots. I try not to pay too much attention to Matt Lauer.

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

dewley notid's picture

...when it's convenient.
And the hillbots all point to the great, noble deeds by the Clinton Foundation in fighting the global AIDS epidemic. I posted this on my Facebook page encouraging them to read it, but as one might expect nothing but crickets.

“We have to change behavior, attitudes.”

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Nature is my religion; the earth is my temple.

Was listening to NPR, which I do rarely. Number of people discussing Obama's trip to Africa. One African specialist said that Bush was very popular in Africa over the aid the US gave involving AIDS. The Clintons are a PR machine.

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Without a solution it doesn't matter whether we have Obama Care or Public Option, the insurance compamies or the public option pool will go bankrupt. You can't have 50% of all adults in the USA being either diabetic or pre-diabetic and think that the cost of healthcare isn't going to bury us. It will. We can't have 60% of the US population taking insulin. That is absolutely insane. diabetes is directly associated with high risk of cancers and other diseases.

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho

mimi's picture

extremely overweight and the rest still not in a range of bodyweight related to their height and age that could be considered acceptable or normal? Al least in my neihborhood they are. I don't think it was that bad in the eighties and mid nineties.

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riverlover's picture

was willlowy before. So overweight is not a cause. Again, correlation. So many Americans are now overweight that that statistic is hard to add to studies. A joke ensues, sorry.

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does not mean that obesity is not a causal factor in developing diabetes. it may be, or it may not be. there are plenty of women who do not have a BRCA1 gene mutation but who get breast cancer, but that doesn't mean that BRCA1 gene mutations are not a causal factor in breast cancer.

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

It's almost pre-diabetes causes obesity. It's called metabolic syndrome and it's caused by being insulin resistant. IOW, your cells become resistant to insulin because they've been pummeled to death by insulin to store the excess blood sugar caused by a high carb low fat diet for a long time. Eventually, the body needs to produce more insulin to get your body to store the sugar in your cells as fat. Once you become insulin resistant your body will not burn your body fat very easily and is the reason why people who are insulin resistant ( metabolic syndrome) can't lose weight very easily and are constantly gaining weight. The low-fat , high carb diet of Americans has caused this. If you don't gain weight while your insulin resistant you will express it in other ways aka cancer, alzheimers, arthritis, joint pain, reflux, heart disease, etc. It's more complicated than this but do your research.

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho

"metabolic syndrome" is a relatively new scientific concept, and it's still more in the realm of hypothesis than anything else; indeed, per its definition as a syndrome, it isn't even an explanation of anything, it's just a set of correlated physiological observations.

And this sentence:

If you don't gain weight while your insulin resistant you will express it in other ways aka cancer, alzheimers, arthritis, joint pain, reflux, heart disease,

has no particular basis in scientific research. To be polite.

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

It's food we eat , the western diet, that is causing people to ballon out and get sick. It's right in front of your face. You just need to pay attention to it.

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"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies." - Groucho

one Clinton at a time.

We don't pay them salary, only their staffs, but oh, those speaking fees!

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Indeed, we have to eliminate 'trade deals/trade courts' which allow corporations to regulate people and control government, change corporate behaviour and attitudes of 'all for The Right People's Profits and the world well lost'.

Which means changing to 'small d' democratic government, for which the US Democratic Party is clearly ineligible. Let the corruption fall, but we must clear away every bit of evil, lest it spread again. (Don't ask me how, though.)

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Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Not sure it negates provoking unending war.

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Beware the bullshit factories.

riverlover's picture

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Unabashed Liberal's picture

call a drug manufacturer to look into their coupon program criteria (if there is any) regarding an 'auto-injection pen' drug--which I mistakenly called an Epi-Pen-like drug the other day. Still learning 'the lingo.' Wink

Don't like what I've found out, thus far. It appears that manufacturer's coupons (or this one) cannot be used with any government backed health insurance plan.

Kabuki is right--if anything, the Dems with their ACA legislation, are partly responsible for the skyrocketing costs of drugs. It has even affected one of our dog's two maintenance drugs. Whew!

Hope you're getting along well.

Mollie


“I believe in the redemptive powers of a dog’s love. It is in recognition of each dog’s potential to lift the human spirit, and, therefore, to change society for the better, that I fight to make sure every street dog has its day.”
--Stasha Wong, Secretary, Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD)

National Mill Dog Rescue (NMDR) - Dogs Available For Adoption

Update: Misty May has been adopted. Yeah!

Misty May - NMDR

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Everyone thinks they have the best dog, and none of them are wrong.

Steven D's picture

so we have cheap drugs now.

My wife on Medicare for SSD almost had one of her most expensive drugs (about $1,000 a month) not authorized (previous authorization expired) after she's been on it for years because - reasons. But we got lucky and some miracle occurred and the authorization came the same day our doctor put in the request. Everyone at the Pharmacy was shocked and frankly so was I. Last year it took two months for this same crap to get resolved and we went $1,800 out of pocket for two months - with coupons from mfr.

My wife's drug costs have steadily increased the last 5 years on Medicare (she uses both forms of insulin, Lantus and Humolog). My drugs are all generic - can't get approval for the newer ones - but even the cost of those has skyrocketed. First few months of the year are hell to pay for us from a medical expense perspective (our deductible and my wife's donut hole issue). We pay almost as much a year in medical costs (deductible and non-deductible) than what's left on our mortgage in total. Just bizarre and obscene system in this country.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

riverlover's picture

Insulin was the first one of the biologicals, but new ones in the pipeline and on the market. For theft pricing, really after a year of US pricing, many have made all research costs, mostly paid by us via NIH, back already.

Hope you are feeling better, I keep turning corners into worse.

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his speechilicious scriptifying, Aaron Sorkin was fundamentally a boob when I heard him assert that pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing should never be left to the devices of the public sector because inefficiency or some such.

NATIONALIZE THE LOT.

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

see Madame Secretary as one to Hillary (probably why I don't watch it).

It's good to be the king. Or the queen.

Lawrence O'Donnell keeps claiming to be a socialist. Who knew MSNBC hired comedians?

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Went from $80 to $100 last year. Luckily, I have insurance that pays 90% for generic drugs.

It's a fallacy for drugs to be priced by a market mechanism. That's obvious for the monopoly drugs, but even the generics have two problems:

1. People like me who make the purchasing decision see only a fraction of the cost if we have insurance. If insurance covers 90%, the market price will be ten times what it would be if no one had insurance.

2. People for whom a drug is life or death will pay ANYTHING for life. It's like talking about market price to pay a kidnapper for your child.

Given universal or at least very substantial insurance coverage whether private or public, the government MUST regulate prices like a public utility to insure fair profits without price gouging. If something actually costs say $800 a dose then it is reasonal to charge $1000. It isn't if the drug costs $10 a dose to make.

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I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Cora Regina's picture

One drug I have to take, Wellbutrin XL, I can only take the brand because I have bad reactions to every generic out there (it's a notoriously bad one). The brand costs over $2500/mo. and of course it's not covered. Nothing my doctor says can get them to authorize it.

I've taken to ordering it through NorthwestPharmacy.com, it's a Canadian pharmacy that one of my doctors introduced me to. He uses it for himself and his own family and I've been there for a couple years now as well. You have to let them keep a check on file since the credit card companies are in cahoots to fuck over Americans who want to pay reasonable prices for their medications, but I've never had any issues. I got a full YEAR of that drug, brand name, for around $900, I think. If I bought it in the US it would have been over $30,000.

You might look into ordering through them; I don't think they'll be able to do insulin because of the refrigeration issue but if you've got other things you need it would be worth a look. I don't get paid to advertise for them or anything, I've just used them for a while and have saved over $60,000 on one medication alone. It fucking sucks that we're forced to resort to doing things like that just to afford the medications we need to survive, shows just how much corporations value their profits over actual human lives.

ETA: Just saw that you hit your deductible. I actually can't manage to hit mine and am dropping my Part D this month because it covers next to nothing I need. I just throw $65 down the hole for no reason.

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Economic: -9.13, Social: -8.56

Shahryar's picture

I'm still boiling over that "Scandinavia, whatever that means". I picture Hillary (and all the other Dems) saying "Canada, whatever that means". Deliberate feigned ignorance. Can't do it. Won't look.

Instead of pledging allegiance to the flag they might as well be honest and put some large denomination bill up the flagpole. $1000? $10000? Do they make anything larger than that? Because that's what the country runs on, that's what they worship.

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Steven D's picture

about what the rest of us go through.

They really don't. And if you try to tell them, they won't listen. No other country in the world crowd funds medical catastrophes like we do. I guess that's one of the freedoms we cherish - the freedom to go broke because of a serious illness.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

Lily O Lady's picture

live al fresco if your crap job or Soc.Security benefits aren't enough to pay for a roof over your head.

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"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"

riverlover's picture

of our real lives down here, they will continue to not understand. So begone! If we could all say that out loud and it would be done...

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But, if something good happens anyway, I'll take credit (cough, SCHIP, cough) and actually run for President on it nineteen years later.

What else have you not done for us, sweetness? Let me count the ways.

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riverlover's picture

and I ordered a drug (also forgotten by me) from Great Britain. One of the many times when having a credit card and a house mailbox works fine.

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

When it's time to choose candidates, Democrats claim they back DINOs only because liberals are not electible. However, when seeking votes, said DINOs, mirable dictu! go liberal. Once in office, they devolve back to DINOs until.....they predictably lose the majority. Then, they go all liberal on the Capitol's ass so they can pretend, especially when running for re-election, that Republicans are the only reason the U.S.A can't never have nice things. A likely story for a country that can afford three names, and a preposition.

So, just eat your peas. Canned, not fresh or frozen--and not LeSeur, either. The supermarket brand, in the dented cans on the mark down cart that you pass on your way to the cat food aisle. And be grateful for those peas and that cat food.

Well, you don't fund their campaigns or employ their cousins or give junket and future lobbyist job security, now, do you?

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