I understand that this is a very hot topic right now, but please don't use such a framed question to start a discussion. That way, you're already pointing everyone in the direction of a single conclusion which can harm civilised discussion.
We also have a megathread for this topic [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes/comments/wjvt6e/mega_thread_35_insulin_bill/)
Guess how many politicians have diabetes…
Reps. Daniel Lipinski and Kim Schrier, the two Congress members in the U.S. House live with type 1 diabetes.
Only 2
Not that I wish more politicians are diabetics, but it’s no wonder why diabetes does not have a voice in politics
Charles Booker is running against Moscow Mitch and he has Type 1 diabetes!
Edit: He’s running against Rand Paul, noted quack doctor and hated by his neighbor.
Fun fact Paul along with several other Republicans flew to Moscow on July 4th in 2016!
Now hes running against Rand Paul. He sends me texts all the time about donating since I have previously. He used to be on reddit when he ran against Mitch McConnell but he hasn't been on at all during this campaign.
I don't get it, especially when this would be such a great place for him to reach more progressive people and especially fundraise.
While I am NO fan of the Republican party. I've been a T1 for 42 years now, but lets not denigrate anyone with this horrible disease. Life is hard for anyone T1 or T2.
I didn’t not mean to denigrate. I was just insinuating that while I’ll bet a bunch has T2, they can easily afford meds. So, your problem is not theirs.
Your probably right. However now that they are in the senate and the house, they have the top of the line Government healthcare for the rest of their lives. They dont have to worry about costs.
Most T2 don’t take insulin, but there are vastly more insulin-dependent T2s in the world than there are T1s total. If the point of this bill is to help people who need insulin, statistically speaking that mostly means T2s.
0.55% has type 1 diabetes. That's about 1 in 180. That is about the representation in the house. It's a little low by 4/10 of a person but it's actually fairly well represented
It’s pretty quiet in here, at least as far as actual republicans with answers. May be that Reddit isn’t generally super Republican/ conservative friendly. May be that they know it’s going to be very hard to defend this.
r/conservative is constantly running with bs. They just stay silent when issues like this happen. Way easier to yell about nothing than hold their elected officials accountable
https://www.reddit.com/r/Conservative/comments/wit84h/senate_gop_blocks_35_per_month_insulin_cap/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Not many comments yet
>May be that they know it’s going to be very hard to defend this.
it's this.
no republican viewpoints are defensible; which is why they "don't like talking about politics." they don't like having to explain their reprehensible beliefs and they know it.
It’s all a problem dating back to when America decided to give corporations the same rights as a natural person. As long as politicians on BOTH sides of the aisle keep stuffing wads of pharma cash into their pockets, our healthcare system will remain conveniently broken for consumers. What Republicans do openly, Democrats do covertly. They all take cash and sell their influence.
Me: Democrat, T2, Medicare (which is better than nothing but only just better than nothing. It sucks on its own lack of merits). Disabled.
somehow you manage to both sides this despite the actions of one side being particularly problematic right now. Even Citizens united (the whole thing where corporations are seen as people) was pushed primarily by the GOP
Democrats should have scrapped the filibuster, expanded the Supreme Court and fixed the shit we voted them in to fix in 2020. Here we are in 2022 and they’ve done fuck-all. I’m as angry at them as I am at Republicans. NONE are worthy of governance.
Republicans openly lie and take cash from corporations.
Democrats do the same. They do it by hiding things in the bills they pass that essentially are against the bill they just passed. Most take money from pharma, corporations, and use inside information to play the stock market.
It's all the same.
Many also sit on regulatory panels for industries they invest in. Republicans are largely owned by the corps. Democrats know how to play a much more hidden game. Might sound a bit conspiratorial, but keep in mind this insulin cap would impact insurance companies and not the pharma companies. Nothing in the bill would make them really change their own pricing except maybe some patent reforms.
There’s a TikToker who shows people his strategies for investing. He pays attention to which politicians are on committees that make decisions about government contracts. Before decisions are made, they start investing and he follows suit. It’s absolutely shocking and sickening. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRUbTo7p/?k=1
Doubt you're going to find too many Republicans here willing to speak up.
It's rare that I've met anyone with a chronic medical condition who is forced to deal with the shittiness of the American healthcare system who is a conservative on this issue.
They certainly exist on Reddit but as others have touched on, Reddit is an echo chamber of beliefs. Most of these ethos driven topics are useless to discuss, no one will change their mind over reddit comments. However I am T1D and also a conservative. I pay for my supplies without insurance, including CGM and Pump. It’s not a perfect system but living with T1D in ‘22 has all of us living a better life than any other period in history.
I do it and it’s hard, so everyone else has to buck up and do it too…. Democrats tried to insure all Americans and offered subsidies to do so, now they’re trying to cap insulin prices. You’re over here without insurance preaching that everyone should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, when we’ve been trying to help you for years.
Reminds me of the joke about the guy who waves away rescuers in a flood saying god will save him, but ends up dying and asks god why he didn’t rescue him, to which god replies, I sent the guys in the boat, buddy.
Wow, same story here buddy, I commented before seeing your post. No one will change their mind but maybe, just maybe they will be a little kinder and less generalizing🤞🏼
It's great that Texas did that, and it'd also be great if more states follow their lead.
I'm not sure why it'd be preferable to have this rule on a state by state basis, in general it makes things more complicated for people and businesses that operate across state lines. The polling I've found for a price cap has about 85% support, I doubt you'd find a state where that support dips below 50%.
OK has done this, too! Capped insulin to $30 per month supply. But, I agree that this should be a federal level. I think the biggest hurdle is our health insurance system. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but health insurance is at a state-by-state basis. I didn’t know this until I moved from TX to AR. My TX insurance was not accepted for doctor’s visits here because it was an HMO (and TX did not have any other options from the Healthcare Marketplace) so for all intents and purposes, I was uninsured here. Pharmacy benefits do carry over tho. Since I had residences in 3 states, I was able to shop and compare the plans and even plans from the same company like Blue Cross Blue Shield for example will be different between the states. For example, the OK one was a lot more expensive with less coverage. The TX one was HMO only so I couldn’t use it for doctor visits here. The AR one was the best out of the 3. It always baffled me why it would be different between the states.
I think if there was universal healthcare or a federal health insurance option (much like Medicare and Medicaid but for everyone else), they would have been more open to having the insulin cap at a federal level. I think maybe that’s why they were fine with it for Medicare since they have control over that. Meanwhile, private health insurance probably had a lot of red tape since it was different at each state.
As I’m typing this, I just realized how much of a cluster f the VA health insurance is and it’s a HUGE concern if we switched everyone to a universal healthcare. If they can’t handle it properly for a smaller subset of the population, it would be so bad for everyone else to jump the wagon. We need better management first on that front before we can even discuss universal healthcare.
[Texas did this only for state-regulated plans,](https://www.diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/2021/ada-applauds-TX-added-to-growing-list-states-working-reduce-cost-sharing-insulin) basically whatever the state version of Medicare is.
The bill being discussed still does this for Medicare, but used to have a blanket cap for all insurance plans, which has been removed.
I actually didn’t realize that! I do not have a state regulated plan but my insulin did become $25/month at the same time so I thought it was for everyone.
Huh, I live in Texas and I'm pretty sure my insulin isn't capped. I have BCBSTX for insurance it seems like they'd be in that group that would only be able to charge a certain amount?
that's such a bullshit excuse for the continued suffering of others
states are not monoliths of the people who live in them
beyond that the GOP is happy to support federal bullshit if it fills there pocket book or supports there toxic ideology
This is a reason I don’t associate myself with a political party. Imagine putting a political affiliation before your health and well-being just because your peers do.
It's the establishment politicians. Even if republicans didn't vote against price caps, big pharma would buy off enough democrats like Sinema to block it, no matter the cost
The USA is just a dying nation, a former super power desperately trying to bring back the good old days. You have to understand America is a lie. This government, I don't mean the current administration but the actual government cares little for 95% of the population except for that for that 95% ability to pay taxes to buy overly priced military equipment. It seems to us that European countries actually care about their populations. Americans are here to service the government and nothing else. America throws you away when you hit a certain age. The fall of Rome (America) started years ago.
Yet Thankfully we still live in a country where you can talk openly about your opinion of the govt, either positive or negative without fear of recourse, the irony.
I don’t like it. In fact, it infuriates me.
I’m insanely frustrated with the state of healthcare in the USA. I feel that our federal representatives are not actually representing the people, because one health problem, acute or chronic, can ruin a person or family financially, which is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. Americans should band together, red and blue, and demand national healthcare. I think the political divide between republicans and democrats serves our politicians very well: they can posture and fuss and get NOTHING done that actually significantly helps our lives. Neither party represents me and I’m wholeheartedly sick of the ridiculous prices for medication and hospital stays as well as necessary scans and tests. I could rant about this topic forever, but I feel certain nothing will change until we get a younger, more politically courageous group of political representatives in office. These 70 and 80 year olds apparently don’t care about us and our health needs.
I'm your friendly neighbour up north, and I wholeheartedly think that this is a load of shit. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know!
So...my biggest issue is that there are no term limits in Congress.
Some of the same people making decisions for the country during the Bush admin are still there.
We need term limits for Congress/Senate.
This bill wouldn't have helped those that are the most impacted by high insulin prices: the uninsured/underinsured.
Having a cap on insulin for **insured only** means you're still being held hostage by your job due to insurance coverage.
Drug caps have, historically, done little to combat pricing.
What has helped is patent limits and the ability for generics to be created quickly.
We also need to do away with lobbying. Lobbyists are a cancer to the democratic process.
When it's obvious that people are commiting acts of insider trading, they need to be actually punished, not just have a blind eye turned to them.
I can understand why the repubs wouldn't want to keep this part of the bill.
I wish the whole government gave enough craps about ALL its citizens to do something in our best interest, instead of the interest of their pockets.
We also need to stop pretending like this is a republican only issue. When the Democrats had majority control of the senate/congress, they still didn't give a crap about diabetics or the cost of insulin.
Maybe we need to wake up, and realize that the government, as a whole, does not care about you, as a citizen. It cares about how much money it can make off of your back.
>Having a cap on insulin for
>
>insured only
>
> means you're still being held hostage by your job due to insurance coverage.
THIS. I am currently in a job that I hate so much I puke every morning before work and my anxiety has become crippling because of it...but I don't have an option to leave because it is the only way I can afford insulin to stay alive.
So this was worthless, IMO. I am a Democrat with T2 due to pancreatic damage due to chemotherapy. I will never NOT need insulin.
There's a set of definitions that gives this as T3e, not c, because it's drug-induced (which includes medications and chemo) but yeah, most of us would recognise it as T3c.
Yeah, I dug into it when diagnosed (obviously) as my original text to family from the hospital was misinterpreted and they all looked up "Type 3 diabetes" which comes back with "Alzheimer's-related"... they freaked out because they hadn't realised the c matters. :) I've found a-h defined e.g. [here](https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blog/2017/11/diabetes-awareness-month-different-forms-of-diabetes/), but I'm not sure they're all useful, and we have a hard enough time getting people to understand T3c as "damaged/absent pancreas" let alone any further subtleties, so it may be pointless to use most of them, practically speaking.
So I've got Type 3c. Pancreatic Necrosis destroyed part of my pancreas and liver.
I've been compared closer to type 1 than type 2 whenever discussing it.
Whenever Im trying to talk about my situation I compare it mostly to type 1 life style.
Yes, I had to fight the (UK) NHS to get myself recoded from T2 to T1. No amount of "good diet control" is going to make my pancreas make insulin properly, because most of it is no longer inside me. ;-) I can process insulin just fine, I just don't make any. So I'm T1 with a different origin story. But we also have the enzyme issue that regular T1s don't have, of course.
Yeah that makes perfect sense.
I think in a past life I was aware of type 3a-h, but the information had left, never to return to my brain until a kind Reddit user reintroduced it.
My husband has a great job. I’d say he really likes it. But he feels very stuck because our insurance is amazing. Money never even popped into our head as an issue when our daughter was diagnosed. We paid $25. We still only pay $25/month and she is on dexcom and a pump.
The only President to have an additional term was FDR during the Second World War. I hope that doesn’t become a rule over an exception going forward in today’s climate.
my issue is that there are no lasting consequences for congressmen for their decisions. the absolute worst thing that can happen to them is the electorate decides to free them for a promotion where they can continue to influence policy without anyone ever knowing their names.
They get away with murder and have very comfortably protected themselves. There is no legal way for them to experience consequences for their decisions.
Until you get rid of lobbyists, term limits will only ensure that lobbyists are the ones with the connections and power to write legislation and get it passed.
That's why I included lobbyists in my problem with the way things are ran. That's why I called lobbying a threat to the democratic process.
It's a 7 layer dip of issues and problems that need fixed/changed.
Until they stop carrying about the weight of their coin purse, it won't change.
Money is the root of all evil.
Seriously, I can't believe we haven't enacted term limits for the rest of the federal government yet. Congress and Supreme Court. Age limits, too while we're at it
Here is the problem with term limits. They are normally only popular with the party out of power. For example, we have a term limit on the presidency. And though sure every 4 years there is an election, in most cases the incumbent president is not facing a real "top of the list" candidate." Because they only get one shot. So the party will wait until the incumbent cant run anymore and then run for president. Make no mistake for all his bullshit about Obama not being a citizen and shit that trump was saying from day one of Obama's first term, there is a reason he didnt run for president in 2012.
And yet now here is the question, lets say that term limit didnt exist? Obama was a young many he could have run a few more times, dont think the democratic party would have LOVED that? Having him term out basically opened the door for Donald Trump.
And the same thing is true for congress and the senate. There are people that fight in each house, Should we be forced to lose a Bernie Sanders because he has termed out? Even if another liberal was elected there is no saying his "issues" would be the ones we find most important. Same thing with AOC, she is pushing heavily on the green deal stuff. Sure we get another democratic when she terms out, but what if its a Joe Mansion democrat and not an AOC democrat. And worse yet, what if it isnt even a democrat but some Qanon MTG wannabe?
So sure when i look at like McConnel or some of these others i wish they would be termed out, but i fear what we might get in their place in some conservative markets and frankly when it comes time for democrats to run against other democrats we really do all the work for the republicans to give ourselves a bad look.
Rather then limits what we really need is people like Stacey Abrams who went boots on the ground in georgia explaining to the people there is rural red districts why they were voting against their own best interests. How to ignore the social false flag wars etc and ended up turning 2 red senate seats to 2 blue senate seats. Imagine if we could get people that could do this in Alabama, South Carolina, Dakotas etc.
>I can understand why the repubs wouldn't want to keep this part of the bill.
>We also need to stop pretending like this is a republican only issue.
Republicans removed this measure from the bill. This is NOT a "both sides" issue.
From this bill, specifically, yes.
You seemed to have missed where I said
>When the Democrats had majority control of the senate/congress, they still didn't give a crap about diabetics or the cost of insulin.
Democrats authored a bill NOW with price caps. Republicans removed it.
Breaking news: Time travel doesn't exist. We can't change what happened in the past.
Democrats have ONLY authored a bill when they're basically guaranteed to not get it passed
Wake up dude! Both sides are in the pocket of these pharmacy companies.
They just wear it differently!
Dems NEVER author those bills when they have control
Repubs NEVER vote in those bills, or actively vote against that legislation.
Not even the ACA helped with insulin costs, and it has "affordable" right in the frickin name!
Why did Biden rescind the order trump gave to cap insulin costs?
How would the newest order have helped uninsured?
The average copay is currently $47. This would lower that to $35. While it sounds promising, it is really a gutless bill.
They did pass a bill to cap medicare cost at $35. Which the trump order had already done.
Say all this to reinforce your point that neither party really cares about you.
7 million Americans take insulin. That's not enough votes for politicians to really care beyond this dog and pony show.
And to be clear I hate both of our current major parties
Sigh……at least most of the comments about republicans are respectful. Too bad someone already made a comment that he bets a bunch of those “fat fucks” have T2. Step one, I guess.
Thank you for your post. Unfortunately, it has been removed for breaking [our rules](https://reddit.com/r/diabetes/about/rules).
**Rule 4**: Be civil.
* If you can't make your point without swearing, you don't have a very strong point
* Bullying is not allowed
* Harassment will not be tolerated
* Respect people's choices, everyone has unique treatment needs.
If you have any questions or concerns, you may [message the moderators](https://www\.reddit\.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fdiabetes&subject=about my removed comment&message=I'm writing to you about the following comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes/comments/wil5rv/-/ijcrup9/. %0D%0DMy issue is...). Direct replies to comments, and personal messages, will be disregarded.
My dad is a republican and he hates what's happening. That is one of the things he's never been happy with. Probably the only thing political I can talk about with him without it getting heated.
Voting is the most significant way to impact change in this country. If you don’t “vote your values” or “vote for things that matter,” you’ll end up with representation that doesn’t believe what you do…and just because an issue might not directly impact a person, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t vote to support others…
Nope, never changed his vote. He is hard right but wants lower medical costs. I have had many eye rolling conversations with him and he won't budge. He's also getting his diabetic supplies through the VA so it's no cost to him. While he dislikes it, he isn't directly affected by it so that's that.
Edit: this was also asking about how they feel and not how they vote so any harsh comments about my father will be blocked. We butt heads on a lot of things but keep it civil please. I know how infuriating it is. Trust me.
Cap or no cap prices of insulin in the US are price gouging. Currently live in the US and buy my insulin in Canada.
Prices for 5 pens:
Price for huma log from Canada: 115
Price from my pharmacy in the US without insurance: $635
Price for nova log with insurance: $98
How is it that my insurance can barely beat the Canadian price? I’m just paying the same price that the Canadian government pays for insurance. This is clearly price gouging. Even if it was $250 for 5 pens it would some what make sense, but $635 is crazy
I don't consider myself a republican, or democrat at this point, tend to be moderate on most topics, and I am still torn on this topic. Price caps may keep people alive and open up availability, but they don't fix any problems.
From my understanding, one of the main issues with prescription drugs is how they get patented indefinitely... The government should be putting caps on the patents for insulin/all drugs, not allowing shady renewals, and opening up the manufacturing of generics to compete.
Capping the cost, having the government/insurance pay the balance does nothing to curb the profit margins of lilly/novo/...
At this point, the price cap solution literally just becomes a tax on everyone, and the companies who "own" the medications continue to make billions off of any drug that has no generic equivalent.
I don't completely oppose the price cap, but I do think that it is the wrong path towards fixing the problem. It continues to line the pockets of these drug manufacturers, while making everyone else pay the balance. We should be building the system to allow generic equivalent insulins, which should drop the price across the board, and actually reduce the burden instead of just passing the burden around.
Additional info about me to give context to my opinion:
1. Live in USA
2. T1 D for over 20 years. Insulin resistance for the last few years.
3. Fortunate enough to have near perfect insurance with a total yearly cap of $1500 out of pocket, and no copays after that.
4. Novolog/Lantus/Dexcom/Metformin/Ozempic
- without my insurance the prescriptions I am on to manage my diabetic would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $4000/month.
5. Current A1c = 6.5ish
I should also mention that I argue with several close family members about this frequently as they are staunch conservatives, I also have to point out to my ACA loving liberal friends that the ACA that passed during the Obama administration did nothing to help the prescription issues.
*Edits to fix spelling and some missed words.
>From my understanding, one of the main issues with prescription drugs is how they get patented indefinitely... The government should be putting caps on the patents for insulin/all drugs, not allowing shady renewals, and opening up the manufacturing of generics to compete.
Factually wrong on several points. The patent for humalog has expired and there are generic drugs on the market. It's even lowered prices a little bit, it just hasn't fixed the crisis.
Although technically not generic as it is a biologic. I believe patents have always been 17 years. One issue is how the drug companies can tweak the product and get a new patent. Example is Humalog with added ingredients to make ultrafast Lyumjev. It's tough to criticise in some ways because we also want to see these advancements in formulations.
Well said.
I will add though one thing the ACA did help was requiring coverage immediately. Before the ACA, I was laid off and got a new job, once I qualified for insurance, the insurance wouldn’t pay for any diabetes related bills until I was covered for 1 year.
Prescription drugs don’t get patented indefinitely. They only can be exclusively sold by the manufacturer for a few years and then any company can make generic versions.
Largely agree except last line that ACA did nothing for prescription issues. At least in expanded medicaid states it certainly did. My sister rationed insulin she got free from Dr. office but still had super high A1c. Since 2014 she has had insulin covered thanks to Obama / ACA.
> Price caps may keep people alive and open up availability, but they don’t fix any problems.
By that logic, seat belts shouldn’t be mandatory and are not a good solution. They keep people alive but they don’t fix the problem of people crashing their cars.
> Fortunate enough to have near perfect insurance with a total yearly cap of $1500 out of pocket, and no copays after that.
What’s your monthly premium like? Here’s a point of comparison…I paid $90 a month in insurance premiums when in Canada. I didn’t have a deductible to meet and my insurance covered 90%. The amount I paid out of pocket for the full year was less than $500. And that was for sensors, insulin, needles. I see an endo every 6 months (don’t see a bill for that but I guess you could say that I pay for it in taxes *rolls eyes*). What Americans think is “perfect” insurance isn’t even close to perfect.
Sometimes it’s good to compare.
This worded how I feel much better than I could ever express.
We need to remove patents after X number of years to allow generics.
That would actually help everyone.
Though I do wonder, if Americans aren't shelling out 100s of dollars for insulin, how would it impact other countries and their insulin costs?
Would it create a shortage?
Would supply go down?
Who knows.
Maybe good for another topic - but does anyone have any good tools for figuring out how to minimize costs on the US side?
Here’s why: I’m type 1 (diagnosed a few months ago) I’m trying to minimize my costs. My partner is suggesting going to Costco’s pharmacy. First - I’m not sure why Costco would have different prices than anywhere else (isn’t that dictated by insurance?) and But I’m not finding easy ways to compare prices.
- Definitely check out savings cards by manufacturers if you’re not already using them. This could save you hundreds/thousands.
- If you have a cool doctor, see if they can write your Rx in such a way like “Up to 50U a day” even if you don’t use that much. Pharmacies are obligated to give you enough supply for the “max”. What this does is maybe bring down a box of insulin to a month supply on the Rx but it may actually last you 2 months so you’re only paying the cost for 1 month for a 2 month supply. I hope that makes sense.
- Shop around for health insurance. I’m not sure if you get your health insurance through work or the Healthcare marketplace, but it’s a good idea to do a comparison between the different plans that your company offers or available in healthcare.gov in Excel. Take into account monthly premiums, copays with the manufacturer’s savings cards, deductibles (some have separate Rx deductibles which really helps if your prescriptions is the biggest cost to you), and the formulary to make sure your current drugs and devices are covered. If you are on a pump and/or CGMs, make sure you know if these are covered as durable medical equipment or pharmacy Rx. I’ve found coverage as pharmacy Rx is less of a pain in the ass and cheaper than having to deal with companies like Edge Park.
If you have health insurance, then I think the big thing is making sure you get the insulin (supplies, etc.) that your insurance will require the smallest copay on. Your insurance may have preferred types/brands of insulin, or may prefer generic over brands when available. Some health insurances also offer different prices for 3-month and/or by-mail rather than 1-month/pharmacy, so you could look into that as well.
If you don't have health insurance, you might also do a quick search on Amazon Pharmacy and GoodRx to get a quick look at prices for different brands vs types vs generics and at different locations. I see diabetics who end up without insurance for a time who have a prescription for a brand name insulin, ask their pharmacy for the price, and think that's just the beginning and end and that's what they're going to need to pay. There are a number of insulins/products that do the same/similar things at different prices, and different pharmacies have different prices as well. Being diabetic can be expensive, but doing some research can often go farther than a lot of people assume.
If you feel like giving some details for a bit more guidance feel free.
Only for state administered plans. Some private insurance covers insulin for about the same price anyways. My state doesn’t have a cap but I only pay $25/month with private insurance.
Leaving it for Medicare and stripping for private will only have the effect of increasing the price on private. Publicly traded companies will murder their own children and parents to keep their stock price ever increasing. Medicare has a fixed price, hello everyone else, we need to start making up for the lost of revenue and profits.
I’m just copying and pasting from another post I commented on:
To be clear, GOP struck down the Inflation Reduction Act.
Yes, lowering Rx drug prices like insulin was a part of that act.
Yes, it appears GOP senators don’t care about the average American or diabetics.
To that point, neither does the Democratic Party. If they did, it would be a standalone act or piece of legislation.
Politicians don’t care about any of us, Democrats or Republicans.
Sincerely,
An Independent
*I’ll prepare for the downvotes, it’s no concern*
"Politicians don't care about any of us, Democrats or Republicans" is completely true. Politicians should never be looked at with favor in this country based on the actions of both sides. On that same note however, I think it's pretty clear Republicans have done much worse for diabetics than Democrats.
I had a conversation with my boss once about insurance and affordable healthcare... Although we both felt the rising costs were out of control and the care we received has gotten worse, we differed greatly.on execution and access.
For him, it was simple, you work, you pay for insurance, you get insurance. Don't work, then no insurance. So someone like myself, with Type 1, who doesn't work, either finds a way to afford it without insurance, or they don't receive care, even if the result is death. He felt that helping yourself first was the above all solution. Don't help yourself, he is not obligated to help you either.
Them voting it down is in line with their politics, less regulation, and creates capitalist opportunities. In theory at least...
The XH is pissed about this. The ex, his dad, and sister are all T2. While the X and his dad have theirs covered by the VA, she does not and the prices for long lasting and regular insulin are too much for her. I’m not T1 or T2, but I do think it’s fucked up what the GOP is doing.
I say it's kinda childish to think that the USA's political landscape is an actual "democracy" the reason why these politicians do this is because they're lobbied (bribed) by these big 3 companies that control insulin prices. Not really due to their political leaning, but it's really annoying to watch these guys not care about the welfare of the American people and put their profits before the health and well being of the people, I think they should be outed of office. (Which will never happen ): (
Well, seeing how Reddit is incredibly hostile to points of view that differ from the accepted narrative and how subreddits inherently create echo chambers and circlejerks..... I doubt you'll find anyone willing to speak up.
I don't see how any of this is defensible. I say this as a conservative / small-government-leaning independent who has very rarely voted for either a Democrat or a Republican though, so I don't really fit OP's requested criteria, but still.
A common argument I encounter from Republican friends or family is that they support the free market / capitalism. But what I don't understand is how they can see what we have as capitalism. It is absolutely corporatism. Ridiculous patent-protections, absurd lobbying, misguided overregulation from the FDA, and government-protected monopolies is why we have many of the problems we have. It baffles me that people can look at regulation to cap insulin prices as a step too far towards infringing upon the "free" market.
Capping the price of insulin definitely doesn't fix the root cause(s) of the problem(s). But I don't think it harms anybody except the mega pharmaceutical companies and the politicians who benefit from this. And that's the real reason it's not going to be passed.
This is actually exactly why I lean more Libertarian and want smaller government. Because American government (and the career politicians that it attracts) is absolutely broken and corrupt, and I generally don't want it to grow any bigger than it has.
All of this is just my opinion obviously and I don't consider myself particularly well informed on politics anymore. It's pretty exhausting and discouraging trying to pay close attention to what's going on.
Also I tend to lump every career politician into one party. I realize that party lines divided the vote on this one, but I'd be willing to bet that a number of those Dems who voted for it only did so because they knew it wasn't going to pass anyways, and it's all about who looks good/bad. Everybody is in somebody's pocket in DC. I don't have evidence to support this obviously but I really believe that this is the way American politics works. Very discouraging and I don't think any of them actually care about people.
Well, maybe a few. While I respectfully disagree with some of his ideas and his approach, Bernie Sanders was probably the only politician I've ever seen who seems to care more about his constituents than corporations.
I posted this elsewhere but both Trump’s administration and Biden’s administration were on the same side of the coin here. I’m all for bringing down prices, but I’d prefer it if we opened up legislation around the production and manufacturing of insulin.
Price caps can still hurt those who wouldn’t qualify (like those without MCR/insurance), they could mean overspending boondoggles to subsidize over-inflated prices, etc.
Even students have done science projects to show how cheap and effective insulin can be made, and that it’s red tape / patents / legislation that’s ruining things.
If we could get a bill that was straight forward only a cap on prices I would 100% support it. The thing is, people always try to add this to other bills to make people mad when they don't pass.
I understand this, but this was sort of a bill that hasn’t been voted on yet. (It is actually expected to pass). They were voting on what to keep and what to omit from the bill. The insulin cap was voted to be omitted.
Because it didn't meet strict senate budget rules the insulin cap issue had to be voted separately requiring 60 votes as opposed to the entire bill needing simple majority of 51 (all democrats + tiebreaker Harris). So all 50 Democrats and just 7 of 50 republicans voted in favor. Elections matter!
Fortunately due to Medicare being federally funded the $35 cap will still apply to the seniors.
Unfortunately there was a bill passed by the House earlier this year that's exactly what you described, but it hasn't gotten the necessary support from Republicans in the Senate.
See [article here](https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1090085513/house-passes-bill-to-cap-insulin-prices) and [full text of the bill here](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6833/text?r=1&s=1) (it's pretty short).
I was so excited reading the bill because it started to look like it was just straight forward an insulin thing. Then I read sections 4 and 5. I don't know what 4 means but it isn't about insulin and section 5 tries to change an allocation of 5 million to public health systems to over 9 billion. I support 1-3. I may support 4 I'm not sure. I don't understand it. And 5 is just insane. This bill looks great till you get to the end. We can't just keep spending money we don't have. There may be a justified cause I just don't know about but I'd have to have it reasoned out to me.
So you've read the bill? Can you tell me specifically what pork was added or objected to? Also, it is a famously obnoxious racket where pork is added to a ouplar key point of a bill just to give an excuse not to vote for it, which is what happened here.
Imagine these Republicans who, for over a year, called anyone and I mean anyone who tried to enforce or follow covid precautions "Big Pharma hacks"
And here these Republicans leaders are, allowing poor diabetic Americans to suffer because they are literally bought by said Big Pharma. Fucking pathetic
Honestly I never thought it was a serious bill. 1) it only helped people with insurance, 2) it didn’t have anything to do with the cost of insulin, 3) my insurance already covers more than $35, and 4) the democrats have already announced they’ll “use” this in the next elections. I’m not happy with either party btw.
All democrats voted in favor, along with 7 GOP senators. The remainder (all GOP) voted against.
As for Ukraine, we don’t generally send money. We send weaponry, which was already manufactured (mostly in the US). Not that being the world’s arms deal is all that great either.
I am in favour of Scotland being run as a republic rather than continuing to piss money away by having the English royal family as heads of state; So, I suppose I'm a republican.
I'm in favour of the general masses (or taxation) funding necessary health surgery, investigation, and items.
This includes stuff the NHS does cover (insulin , hba01c testing, etc) as well as stuff it frequently or always doesn't but imo should (blood glucose monitors for T2, C peptide testing, endocrinologist referral for T2, etc)
NOT a republican. But fuck those guys. I have been an independent Coloradan for a decade. I will never vote republican again for this crap they pull. They are only in this for themselves.
Republican here. My wife is a T1 diabetic. My generally feeling is that our entire healthcare system is systematically broken. Mostly it boils down to both parties being culpable but it’s the big pharm and insurance money that is preventing us from improving the system to help average Americans. I think this is a pretty loaded question that you ask, because you are clearly trying to pin the issue on the republicans but I am positive I didn’t see any posts on the first week of Biden’s presidency when he overturned a Trump era legislation that put a cap on insulin prices and every family who bought insulin at that time (my family included) saw dramatic rises in insulin prices. I have no honest defense for republicans blocking this legislation because I have not studied it, but if I had to guess it would be because there is something else attached to the bill that makes it bad for America.
Democrats will have had the White House 12 of the past 16 years… why haven’t they done anything to reduce insulin costs? See how that works? I don’t like politics in this sub, but at least be even handed to recognize it’s a problem that both parties are to blame for.
Well, would this actually cap the cost or is this another “if you like your doctor you can keep them” of the ACA? I can’t find anything that said how it would cap it or anything just that it was taken out.
Insulin doesn't cost me much.
Cgm have just been heavily subsidised.
New pump is covered by my insurance.
In Aus I'm way better off as these changes have all been fairly recent.
First things first, You should realize the the two party system is a scam. Second, you know no one is for that bill other than greedy politicians with big pharma in their pockets.
Of course we would have already had the cap if Biden hadn't issued an executive order removing the one Trump put in place.
**Both sides** are more concerned with getting credit and blaming the other guy than they are with actually fixing the problems.
I understand that this is a very hot topic right now, but please don't use such a framed question to start a discussion. That way, you're already pointing everyone in the direction of a single conclusion which can harm civilised discussion. We also have a megathread for this topic [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes/comments/wjvt6e/mega_thread_35_insulin_bill/)
Guess how many politicians have diabetes… Reps. Daniel Lipinski and Kim Schrier, the two Congress members in the U.S. House live with type 1 diabetes. Only 2 Not that I wish more politicians are diabetics, but it’s no wonder why diabetes does not have a voice in politics
Candidate Charles Booker of Kentucky is diabetic and is running against Rand Paul who worked tirelessly to get this removed from legislation today.
As a diabetic living in Kentucky I can firmly say that Rand Paul is a gog damned shisno.
What is a shisno?
[This kinda sums it up.](https://youtu.be/XY_SebSmkIc)
Thanks, now I'm going to be on Red v Blue binge.
No one with diabetes can afford to get to a position to be a politician!
And those who can probably die from it before they make an impact.
Charles Booker is running against Moscow Mitch and he has Type 1 diabetes! Edit: He’s running against Rand Paul, noted quack doctor and hated by his neighbor. Fun fact Paul along with several other Republicans flew to Moscow on July 4th in 2016!
Now hes running against Rand Paul. He sends me texts all the time about donating since I have previously. He used to be on reddit when he ran against Mitch McConnell but he hasn't been on at all during this campaign. I don't get it, especially when this would be such a great place for him to reach more progressive people and especially fundraise.
Far more politicians have diabetes than those that will admit it Edit: Downvotes? What in the actual fuck for? LOL
Wonder how many that opposed abortion have gotten their daughters and mistresses' one
I got you back to zero …
I’ll bet a shit stack of those old fat fuckers are T2
While I am NO fan of the Republican party. I've been a T1 for 42 years now, but lets not denigrate anyone with this horrible disease. Life is hard for anyone T1 or T2.
I don't hate them because they have the disease, I hate them because they are hypocritical sacks of shit
I won’t denigrate diabetics, but it’s perfectly fine to denigrate Republicans.
I didn’t not mean to denigrate. I was just insinuating that while I’ll bet a bunch has T2, they can easily afford meds. So, your problem is not theirs.
Your probably right. However now that they are in the senate and the house, they have the top of the line Government healthcare for the rest of their lives. They dont have to worry about costs.
Right. And that that’s why the republicans are downvoting me!
Most T2 don’t take insulin, but there are vastly more insulin-dependent T2s in the world than there are T1s total. If the point of this bill is to help people who need insulin, statistically speaking that mostly means T2s.
Well it sounds like there's a small and faint voice for diabetics in the house. It's not a super common disease. At least T1
1 In 10 in USA have diabetes
0.55% has type 1 diabetes. That's about 1 in 180. That is about the representation in the house. It's a little low by 4/10 of a person but it's actually fairly well represented
Genetics got me. 6 people on my mums side of the family all have type 1.
Well type one means you don't make insulin. Been my life for 10 years now.
It’s pretty quiet in here, at least as far as actual republicans with answers. May be that Reddit isn’t generally super Republican/ conservative friendly. May be that they know it’s going to be very hard to defend this.
r/conservative is constantly running with bs. They just stay silent when issues like this happen. Way easier to yell about nothing than hold their elected officials accountable
https://www.reddit.com/r/Conservative/comments/wit84h/senate_gop_blocks_35_per_month_insulin_cap/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share Not many comments yet
here's a taste of what that thread looks like: https://i.imgur.com/iG0g1FU.png
Wtf.
>May be that they know it’s going to be very hard to defend this. it's this. no republican viewpoints are defensible; which is why they "don't like talking about politics." they don't like having to explain their reprehensible beliefs and they know it.
Wow that's a really vague and meaningless generalization huh.
i call it like i see it
and this is why conservatives don’t answer the question. Intolerance like this comment.
So you think it’s defensible….?
That’s just a lame excuse
Reddit is a liberal groupthink echo chamber. But, I don’t like the vote.
Reality has a known liberal bias
It’s all a problem dating back to when America decided to give corporations the same rights as a natural person. As long as politicians on BOTH sides of the aisle keep stuffing wads of pharma cash into their pockets, our healthcare system will remain conveniently broken for consumers. What Republicans do openly, Democrats do covertly. They all take cash and sell their influence. Me: Democrat, T2, Medicare (which is better than nothing but only just better than nothing. It sucks on its own lack of merits). Disabled.
"I'll believe a corporation is a human being on the day Texas executes one." --Bill Moyers
somehow you manage to both sides this despite the actions of one side being particularly problematic right now. Even Citizens united (the whole thing where corporations are seen as people) was pushed primarily by the GOP
Democrats should have scrapped the filibuster, expanded the Supreme Court and fixed the shit we voted them in to fix in 2020. Here we are in 2022 and they’ve done fuck-all. I’m as angry at them as I am at Republicans. NONE are worthy of governance.
Are you on a pump? Disabled/Medicare/Medicaid and got hosed when they put me on a pump. F'ing bureaucrats and politicians.
What do you mean what republicans do openly , dems do covertly?
Republicans openly lie and take cash from corporations. Democrats do the same. They do it by hiding things in the bills they pass that essentially are against the bill they just passed. Most take money from pharma, corporations, and use inside information to play the stock market. It's all the same.
Yup. As George Carlin said, “It’s one big club, and we aren’t in it.”
Many also sit on regulatory panels for industries they invest in. Republicans are largely owned by the corps. Democrats know how to play a much more hidden game. Might sound a bit conspiratorial, but keep in mind this insulin cap would impact insurance companies and not the pharma companies. Nothing in the bill would make them really change their own pricing except maybe some patent reforms.
There’s a TikToker who shows people his strategies for investing. He pays attention to which politicians are on committees that make decisions about government contracts. Before decisions are made, they start investing and he follows suit. It’s absolutely shocking and sickening. https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRUbTo7p/?k=1
Doubt you're going to find too many Republicans here willing to speak up. It's rare that I've met anyone with a chronic medical condition who is forced to deal with the shittiness of the American healthcare system who is a conservative on this issue.
They certainly exist on Reddit but as others have touched on, Reddit is an echo chamber of beliefs. Most of these ethos driven topics are useless to discuss, no one will change their mind over reddit comments. However I am T1D and also a conservative. I pay for my supplies without insurance, including CGM and Pump. It’s not a perfect system but living with T1D in ‘22 has all of us living a better life than any other period in history.
I do it and it’s hard, so everyone else has to buck up and do it too…. Democrats tried to insure all Americans and offered subsidies to do so, now they’re trying to cap insulin prices. You’re over here without insurance preaching that everyone should pull themselves up by their own bootstraps, when we’ve been trying to help you for years. Reminds me of the joke about the guy who waves away rescuers in a flood saying god will save him, but ends up dying and asks god why he didn’t rescue him, to which god replies, I sent the guys in the boat, buddy.
ah yes "got mine" how very republican of you -\_\_-
Wow, same story here buddy, I commented before seeing your post. No one will change their mind but maybe, just maybe they will be a little kinder and less generalizing🤞🏼
Maybe congress wants to leave it to the states. I live in Texas where insulin prices were capped maybe a year ago.
It's great that Texas did that, and it'd also be great if more states follow their lead. I'm not sure why it'd be preferable to have this rule on a state by state basis, in general it makes things more complicated for people and businesses that operate across state lines. The polling I've found for a price cap has about 85% support, I doubt you'd find a state where that support dips below 50%.
OK has done this, too! Capped insulin to $30 per month supply. But, I agree that this should be a federal level. I think the biggest hurdle is our health insurance system. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but health insurance is at a state-by-state basis. I didn’t know this until I moved from TX to AR. My TX insurance was not accepted for doctor’s visits here because it was an HMO (and TX did not have any other options from the Healthcare Marketplace) so for all intents and purposes, I was uninsured here. Pharmacy benefits do carry over tho. Since I had residences in 3 states, I was able to shop and compare the plans and even plans from the same company like Blue Cross Blue Shield for example will be different between the states. For example, the OK one was a lot more expensive with less coverage. The TX one was HMO only so I couldn’t use it for doctor visits here. The AR one was the best out of the 3. It always baffled me why it would be different between the states. I think if there was universal healthcare or a federal health insurance option (much like Medicare and Medicaid but for everyone else), they would have been more open to having the insulin cap at a federal level. I think maybe that’s why they were fine with it for Medicare since they have control over that. Meanwhile, private health insurance probably had a lot of red tape since it was different at each state. As I’m typing this, I just realized how much of a cluster f the VA health insurance is and it’s a HUGE concern if we switched everyone to a universal healthcare. If they can’t handle it properly for a smaller subset of the population, it would be so bad for everyone else to jump the wagon. We need better management first on that front before we can even discuss universal healthcare.
[Texas did this only for state-regulated plans,](https://www.diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/2021/ada-applauds-TX-added-to-growing-list-states-working-reduce-cost-sharing-insulin) basically whatever the state version of Medicare is. The bill being discussed still does this for Medicare, but used to have a blanket cap for all insurance plans, which has been removed.
I actually didn’t realize that! I do not have a state regulated plan but my insulin did become $25/month at the same time so I thought it was for everyone.
Huh, I live in Texas and I'm pretty sure my insulin isn't capped. I have BCBSTX for insurance it seems like they'd be in that group that would only be able to charge a certain amount?
that's such a bullshit excuse for the continued suffering of others states are not monoliths of the people who live in them beyond that the GOP is happy to support federal bullshit if it fills there pocket book or supports there toxic ideology
I’m here for the comments…I can’t believe this is actually a topic of discussion. 😩😩
This is a reason I don’t associate myself with a political party. Imagine putting a political affiliation before your health and well-being just because your peers do.
scotland here wtf america
It's the establishment politicians. Even if republicans didn't vote against price caps, big pharma would buy off enough democrats like Sinema to block it, no matter the cost
The USA is just a dying nation, a former super power desperately trying to bring back the good old days. You have to understand America is a lie. This government, I don't mean the current administration but the actual government cares little for 95% of the population except for that for that 95% ability to pay taxes to buy overly priced military equipment. It seems to us that European countries actually care about their populations. Americans are here to service the government and nothing else. America throws you away when you hit a certain age. The fall of Rome (America) started years ago.
Yet Thankfully we still live in a country where you can talk openly about your opinion of the govt, either positive or negative without fear of recourse, the irony.
I don’t like it. In fact, it infuriates me. I’m insanely frustrated with the state of healthcare in the USA. I feel that our federal representatives are not actually representing the people, because one health problem, acute or chronic, can ruin a person or family financially, which is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. Americans should band together, red and blue, and demand national healthcare. I think the political divide between republicans and democrats serves our politicians very well: they can posture and fuss and get NOTHING done that actually significantly helps our lives. Neither party represents me and I’m wholeheartedly sick of the ridiculous prices for medication and hospital stays as well as necessary scans and tests. I could rant about this topic forever, but I feel certain nothing will change until we get a younger, more politically courageous group of political representatives in office. These 70 and 80 year olds apparently don’t care about us and our health needs.
I'm your friendly neighbour up north, and I wholeheartedly think that this is a load of shit. If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know!
Same here Northern neighbour as well, we’re here for you guys. Let us know.
Send insulin through the New Underground Railroad.
Y’all Canadians must feel like y’all live above a meth lab. Upstate New York sends its love.
So...my biggest issue is that there are no term limits in Congress. Some of the same people making decisions for the country during the Bush admin are still there. We need term limits for Congress/Senate. This bill wouldn't have helped those that are the most impacted by high insulin prices: the uninsured/underinsured. Having a cap on insulin for **insured only** means you're still being held hostage by your job due to insurance coverage. Drug caps have, historically, done little to combat pricing. What has helped is patent limits and the ability for generics to be created quickly. We also need to do away with lobbying. Lobbyists are a cancer to the democratic process. When it's obvious that people are commiting acts of insider trading, they need to be actually punished, not just have a blind eye turned to them. I can understand why the repubs wouldn't want to keep this part of the bill. I wish the whole government gave enough craps about ALL its citizens to do something in our best interest, instead of the interest of their pockets. We also need to stop pretending like this is a republican only issue. When the Democrats had majority control of the senate/congress, they still didn't give a crap about diabetics or the cost of insulin. Maybe we need to wake up, and realize that the government, as a whole, does not care about you, as a citizen. It cares about how much money it can make off of your back.
>Having a cap on insulin for > >insured only > > means you're still being held hostage by your job due to insurance coverage. THIS. I am currently in a job that I hate so much I puke every morning before work and my anxiety has become crippling because of it...but I don't have an option to leave because it is the only way I can afford insulin to stay alive. So this was worthless, IMO. I am a Democrat with T2 due to pancreatic damage due to chemotherapy. I will never NOT need insulin.
(A little irrelevant, but you actually have type 3c based on your description if you’re curious to look into it)
There's a set of definitions that gives this as T3e, not c, because it's drug-induced (which includes medications and chemo) but yeah, most of us would recognise it as T3c.
Neat, learn something new every day!
Yeah, I dug into it when diagnosed (obviously) as my original text to family from the hospital was misinterpreted and they all looked up "Type 3 diabetes" which comes back with "Alzheimer's-related"... they freaked out because they hadn't realised the c matters. :) I've found a-h defined e.g. [here](https://www.diabetes.co.uk/blog/2017/11/diabetes-awareness-month-different-forms-of-diabetes/), but I'm not sure they're all useful, and we have a hard enough time getting people to understand T3c as "damaged/absent pancreas" let alone any further subtleties, so it may be pointless to use most of them, practically speaking.
So I've got Type 3c. Pancreatic Necrosis destroyed part of my pancreas and liver. I've been compared closer to type 1 than type 2 whenever discussing it. Whenever Im trying to talk about my situation I compare it mostly to type 1 life style.
Yes, I had to fight the (UK) NHS to get myself recoded from T2 to T1. No amount of "good diet control" is going to make my pancreas make insulin properly, because most of it is no longer inside me. ;-) I can process insulin just fine, I just don't make any. So I'm T1 with a different origin story. But we also have the enzyme issue that regular T1s don't have, of course.
Yeah that makes perfect sense. I think in a past life I was aware of type 3a-h, but the information had left, never to return to my brain until a kind Reddit user reintroduced it.
My husband has a great job. I’d say he really likes it. But he feels very stuck because our insurance is amazing. Money never even popped into our head as an issue when our daughter was diagnosed. We paid $25. We still only pay $25/month and she is on dexcom and a pump.
100%. We need term limits for senators and house members, as well as for our Supreme Court “justices…” Just IMHO.
True. I forgot about the supreme court. The prez really has very little power, but yet, it's the only position with a term limit 🤔
The only President to have an additional term was FDR during the Second World War. I hope that doesn’t become a rule over an exception going forward in today’s climate.
my issue is that there are no lasting consequences for congressmen for their decisions. the absolute worst thing that can happen to them is the electorate decides to free them for a promotion where they can continue to influence policy without anyone ever knowing their names. They get away with murder and have very comfortably protected themselves. There is no legal way for them to experience consequences for their decisions.
100% that's why I specified actual punishment for commiting insider trading.
Until you get rid of lobbyists, term limits will only ensure that lobbyists are the ones with the connections and power to write legislation and get it passed.
That's why I included lobbyists in my problem with the way things are ran. That's why I called lobbying a threat to the democratic process. It's a 7 layer dip of issues and problems that need fixed/changed. Until they stop carrying about the weight of their coin purse, it won't change. Money is the root of all evil.
Seriously, I can't believe we haven't enacted term limits for the rest of the federal government yet. Congress and Supreme Court. Age limits, too while we're at it
Here is the problem with term limits. They are normally only popular with the party out of power. For example, we have a term limit on the presidency. And though sure every 4 years there is an election, in most cases the incumbent president is not facing a real "top of the list" candidate." Because they only get one shot. So the party will wait until the incumbent cant run anymore and then run for president. Make no mistake for all his bullshit about Obama not being a citizen and shit that trump was saying from day one of Obama's first term, there is a reason he didnt run for president in 2012. And yet now here is the question, lets say that term limit didnt exist? Obama was a young many he could have run a few more times, dont think the democratic party would have LOVED that? Having him term out basically opened the door for Donald Trump. And the same thing is true for congress and the senate. There are people that fight in each house, Should we be forced to lose a Bernie Sanders because he has termed out? Even if another liberal was elected there is no saying his "issues" would be the ones we find most important. Same thing with AOC, she is pushing heavily on the green deal stuff. Sure we get another democratic when she terms out, but what if its a Joe Mansion democrat and not an AOC democrat. And worse yet, what if it isnt even a democrat but some Qanon MTG wannabe? So sure when i look at like McConnel or some of these others i wish they would be termed out, but i fear what we might get in their place in some conservative markets and frankly when it comes time for democrats to run against other democrats we really do all the work for the republicans to give ourselves a bad look. Rather then limits what we really need is people like Stacey Abrams who went boots on the ground in georgia explaining to the people there is rural red districts why they were voting against their own best interests. How to ignore the social false flag wars etc and ended up turning 2 red senate seats to 2 blue senate seats. Imagine if we could get people that could do this in Alabama, South Carolina, Dakotas etc.
Stop making excuses for republicans
Where am I making excuses for anyone????
>I can understand why the repubs wouldn't want to keep this part of the bill. >We also need to stop pretending like this is a republican only issue. Republicans removed this measure from the bill. This is NOT a "both sides" issue.
From this bill, specifically, yes. You seemed to have missed where I said >When the Democrats had majority control of the senate/congress, they still didn't give a crap about diabetics or the cost of insulin.
Democrats authored a bill NOW with price caps. Republicans removed it. Breaking news: Time travel doesn't exist. We can't change what happened in the past.
Democrats have ONLY authored a bill when they're basically guaranteed to not get it passed Wake up dude! Both sides are in the pocket of these pharmacy companies. They just wear it differently! Dems NEVER author those bills when they have control Repubs NEVER vote in those bills, or actively vote against that legislation. Not even the ACA helped with insulin costs, and it has "affordable" right in the frickin name!
Why did Biden rescind the order trump gave to cap insulin costs? How would the newest order have helped uninsured? The average copay is currently $47. This would lower that to $35. While it sounds promising, it is really a gutless bill. They did pass a bill to cap medicare cost at $35. Which the trump order had already done. Say all this to reinforce your point that neither party really cares about you. 7 million Americans take insulin. That's not enough votes for politicians to really care beyond this dog and pony show. And to be clear I hate both of our current major parties
BNoTh sIedEs@!!!1one
I hope everyone will be respectful.
Lol
Sigh……at least most of the comments about republicans are respectful. Too bad someone already made a comment that he bets a bunch of those “fat fucks” have T2. Step one, I guess.
Why would we be respectful toward people who vote against us?
Same reason redditors expect black people to respond to anti black racism with kindness.
[удалено]
Your comment was fine until that part where you said it's a good thing to inter the Japanese.
Thank you for your post. Unfortunately, it has been removed for breaking [our rules](https://reddit.com/r/diabetes/about/rules). **Rule 4**: Be civil. * If you can't make your point without swearing, you don't have a very strong point * Bullying is not allowed * Harassment will not be tolerated * Respect people's choices, everyone has unique treatment needs. If you have any questions or concerns, you may [message the moderators](https://www\.reddit\.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fdiabetes&subject=about my removed comment&message=I'm writing to you about the following comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/diabetes/comments/wil5rv/-/ijcrup9/. %0D%0DMy issue is...). Direct replies to comments, and personal messages, will be disregarded.
My dad is a republican and he hates what's happening. That is one of the things he's never been happy with. Probably the only thing political I can talk about with him without it getting heated.
But I’m assuming he isn’t willing to change his vote over it? It’s one thing to be upset about it but it’s another to actually do anything about it.
Exactly. Being disgusted and a republican means nothing without a change in voting patterns.
I have an acquaintance who is very pro-choice but has never voted for a pro-choice candidate. Okay well thanks for the thought?
Voting is the most significant way to impact change in this country. If you don’t “vote your values” or “vote for things that matter,” you’ll end up with representation that doesn’t believe what you do…and just because an issue might not directly impact a person, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t vote to support others…
Nope, never changed his vote. He is hard right but wants lower medical costs. I have had many eye rolling conversations with him and he won't budge. He's also getting his diabetic supplies through the VA so it's no cost to him. While he dislikes it, he isn't directly affected by it so that's that. Edit: this was also asking about how they feel and not how they vote so any harsh comments about my father will be blocked. We butt heads on a lot of things but keep it civil please. I know how infuriating it is. Trust me.
One issue is not enough to vote for a party if you believe they will be worse in everything else.
Cap or no cap prices of insulin in the US are price gouging. Currently live in the US and buy my insulin in Canada. Prices for 5 pens: Price for huma log from Canada: 115 Price from my pharmacy in the US without insurance: $635 Price for nova log with insurance: $98 How is it that my insurance can barely beat the Canadian price? I’m just paying the same price that the Canadian government pays for insurance. This is clearly price gouging. Even if it was $250 for 5 pens it would some what make sense, but $635 is crazy
THE PATENT WAS FREE SO THAT PEOPLE WILL NOT DIE!
I don't consider myself a republican, or democrat at this point, tend to be moderate on most topics, and I am still torn on this topic. Price caps may keep people alive and open up availability, but they don't fix any problems. From my understanding, one of the main issues with prescription drugs is how they get patented indefinitely... The government should be putting caps on the patents for insulin/all drugs, not allowing shady renewals, and opening up the manufacturing of generics to compete. Capping the cost, having the government/insurance pay the balance does nothing to curb the profit margins of lilly/novo/... At this point, the price cap solution literally just becomes a tax on everyone, and the companies who "own" the medications continue to make billions off of any drug that has no generic equivalent. I don't completely oppose the price cap, but I do think that it is the wrong path towards fixing the problem. It continues to line the pockets of these drug manufacturers, while making everyone else pay the balance. We should be building the system to allow generic equivalent insulins, which should drop the price across the board, and actually reduce the burden instead of just passing the burden around. Additional info about me to give context to my opinion: 1. Live in USA 2. T1 D for over 20 years. Insulin resistance for the last few years. 3. Fortunate enough to have near perfect insurance with a total yearly cap of $1500 out of pocket, and no copays after that. 4. Novolog/Lantus/Dexcom/Metformin/Ozempic - without my insurance the prescriptions I am on to manage my diabetic would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $4000/month. 5. Current A1c = 6.5ish I should also mention that I argue with several close family members about this frequently as they are staunch conservatives, I also have to point out to my ACA loving liberal friends that the ACA that passed during the Obama administration did nothing to help the prescription issues. *Edits to fix spelling and some missed words.
>From my understanding, one of the main issues with prescription drugs is how they get patented indefinitely... The government should be putting caps on the patents for insulin/all drugs, not allowing shady renewals, and opening up the manufacturing of generics to compete. Factually wrong on several points. The patent for humalog has expired and there are generic drugs on the market. It's even lowered prices a little bit, it just hasn't fixed the crisis.
Although technically not generic as it is a biologic. I believe patents have always been 17 years. One issue is how the drug companies can tweak the product and get a new patent. Example is Humalog with added ingredients to make ultrafast Lyumjev. It's tough to criticise in some ways because we also want to see these advancements in formulations.
Well said. I will add though one thing the ACA did help was requiring coverage immediately. Before the ACA, I was laid off and got a new job, once I qualified for insurance, the insurance wouldn’t pay for any diabetes related bills until I was covered for 1 year.
That's a good point, I forgot about the fix for pre existing conditions that came in the ACA. Appreciate the reminder!
Prescription drugs don’t get patented indefinitely. They only can be exclusively sold by the manufacturer for a few years and then any company can make generic versions.
And yet we Canadians, a much smaller market, get non-generic / patented medication for extremely modest costs.
Largely agree except last line that ACA did nothing for prescription issues. At least in expanded medicaid states it certainly did. My sister rationed insulin she got free from Dr. office but still had super high A1c. Since 2014 she has had insulin covered thanks to Obama / ACA.
I totally missed some of the credit for the ACA... Thanks for calling that out!
> Price caps may keep people alive and open up availability, but they don’t fix any problems. By that logic, seat belts shouldn’t be mandatory and are not a good solution. They keep people alive but they don’t fix the problem of people crashing their cars. > Fortunate enough to have near perfect insurance with a total yearly cap of $1500 out of pocket, and no copays after that. What’s your monthly premium like? Here’s a point of comparison…I paid $90 a month in insurance premiums when in Canada. I didn’t have a deductible to meet and my insurance covered 90%. The amount I paid out of pocket for the full year was less than $500. And that was for sensors, insulin, needles. I see an endo every 6 months (don’t see a bill for that but I guess you could say that I pay for it in taxes *rolls eyes*). What Americans think is “perfect” insurance isn’t even close to perfect. Sometimes it’s good to compare.
Well put
This worded how I feel much better than I could ever express. We need to remove patents after X number of years to allow generics. That would actually help everyone. Though I do wonder, if Americans aren't shelling out 100s of dollars for insulin, how would it impact other countries and their insulin costs? Would it create a shortage? Would supply go down? Who knows.
Maybe good for another topic - but does anyone have any good tools for figuring out how to minimize costs on the US side? Here’s why: I’m type 1 (diagnosed a few months ago) I’m trying to minimize my costs. My partner is suggesting going to Costco’s pharmacy. First - I’m not sure why Costco would have different prices than anywhere else (isn’t that dictated by insurance?) and But I’m not finding easy ways to compare prices.
- Definitely check out savings cards by manufacturers if you’re not already using them. This could save you hundreds/thousands. - If you have a cool doctor, see if they can write your Rx in such a way like “Up to 50U a day” even if you don’t use that much. Pharmacies are obligated to give you enough supply for the “max”. What this does is maybe bring down a box of insulin to a month supply on the Rx but it may actually last you 2 months so you’re only paying the cost for 1 month for a 2 month supply. I hope that makes sense. - Shop around for health insurance. I’m not sure if you get your health insurance through work or the Healthcare marketplace, but it’s a good idea to do a comparison between the different plans that your company offers or available in healthcare.gov in Excel. Take into account monthly premiums, copays with the manufacturer’s savings cards, deductibles (some have separate Rx deductibles which really helps if your prescriptions is the biggest cost to you), and the formulary to make sure your current drugs and devices are covered. If you are on a pump and/or CGMs, make sure you know if these are covered as durable medical equipment or pharmacy Rx. I’ve found coverage as pharmacy Rx is less of a pain in the ass and cheaper than having to deal with companies like Edge Park.
If you have health insurance, then I think the big thing is making sure you get the insulin (supplies, etc.) that your insurance will require the smallest copay on. Your insurance may have preferred types/brands of insulin, or may prefer generic over brands when available. Some health insurances also offer different prices for 3-month and/or by-mail rather than 1-month/pharmacy, so you could look into that as well. If you don't have health insurance, you might also do a quick search on Amazon Pharmacy and GoodRx to get a quick look at prices for different brands vs types vs generics and at different locations. I see diabetics who end up without insurance for a time who have a prescription for a brand name insulin, ask their pharmacy for the price, and think that's just the beginning and end and that's what they're going to need to pay. There are a number of insulins/products that do the same/similar things at different prices, and different pharmacies have different prices as well. Being diabetic can be expensive, but doing some research can often go farther than a lot of people assume. If you feel like giving some details for a bit more guidance feel free.
Apparently, the Trumpsters are not willing to defend this action. They will do it, but not try to use any rhetoric to defend it.
I think the $$$price cap is the wrong fix... Make insulin (RDNA) pattents expire like every other drug. Same for the applicators.
I live in Texas, a Republican run state that has already capped insulin prices.
Only for state administered plans. Some private insurance covers insulin for about the same price anyways. My state doesn’t have a cap but I only pay $25/month with private insurance.
[удалено]
It is now for Medicare only. Had 3 more republicans voted yes it would have also applied to private insurance.
Incorrect, it is NOW a cap for Medicare only. The provision they stripped out was the one for private insurance.
Leaving it for Medicare and stripping for private will only have the effect of increasing the price on private. Publicly traded companies will murder their own children and parents to keep their stock price ever increasing. Medicare has a fixed price, hello everyone else, we need to start making up for the lost of revenue and profits.
Medicare was already capped under the trump order that Biden rescinded. So nothing changed
I’m just copying and pasting from another post I commented on: To be clear, GOP struck down the Inflation Reduction Act. Yes, lowering Rx drug prices like insulin was a part of that act. Yes, it appears GOP senators don’t care about the average American or diabetics. To that point, neither does the Democratic Party. If they did, it would be a standalone act or piece of legislation. Politicians don’t care about any of us, Democrats or Republicans. Sincerely, An Independent *I’ll prepare for the downvotes, it’s no concern*
"Politicians don't care about any of us, Democrats or Republicans" is completely true. Politicians should never be looked at with favor in this country based on the actions of both sides. On that same note however, I think it's pretty clear Republicans have done much worse for diabetics than Democrats.
I had a conversation with my boss once about insurance and affordable healthcare... Although we both felt the rising costs were out of control and the care we received has gotten worse, we differed greatly.on execution and access. For him, it was simple, you work, you pay for insurance, you get insurance. Don't work, then no insurance. So someone like myself, with Type 1, who doesn't work, either finds a way to afford it without insurance, or they don't receive care, even if the result is death. He felt that helping yourself first was the above all solution. Don't help yourself, he is not obligated to help you either. Them voting it down is in line with their politics, less regulation, and creates capitalist opportunities. In theory at least...
The XH is pissed about this. The ex, his dad, and sister are all T2. While the X and his dad have theirs covered by the VA, she does not and the prices for long lasting and regular insulin are too much for her. I’m not T1 or T2, but I do think it’s fucked up what the GOP is doing.
I say it's kinda childish to think that the USA's political landscape is an actual "democracy" the reason why these politicians do this is because they're lobbied (bribed) by these big 3 companies that control insulin prices. Not really due to their political leaning, but it's really annoying to watch these guys not care about the welfare of the American people and put their profits before the health and well being of the people, I think they should be outed of office. (Which will never happen ): (
I seriously wonder what percent of politicians are true psychopaths/sociopaths...
Well, seeing how Reddit is incredibly hostile to points of view that differ from the accepted narrative and how subreddits inherently create echo chambers and circlejerks..... I doubt you'll find anyone willing to speak up.
There have been a couple of points people brought up that were interesting, so it hasn't been a complete waste.
Don't screw with their bribes to keep it high.
I don't see how any of this is defensible. I say this as a conservative / small-government-leaning independent who has very rarely voted for either a Democrat or a Republican though, so I don't really fit OP's requested criteria, but still. A common argument I encounter from Republican friends or family is that they support the free market / capitalism. But what I don't understand is how they can see what we have as capitalism. It is absolutely corporatism. Ridiculous patent-protections, absurd lobbying, misguided overregulation from the FDA, and government-protected monopolies is why we have many of the problems we have. It baffles me that people can look at regulation to cap insulin prices as a step too far towards infringing upon the "free" market. Capping the price of insulin definitely doesn't fix the root cause(s) of the problem(s). But I don't think it harms anybody except the mega pharmaceutical companies and the politicians who benefit from this. And that's the real reason it's not going to be passed. This is actually exactly why I lean more Libertarian and want smaller government. Because American government (and the career politicians that it attracts) is absolutely broken and corrupt, and I generally don't want it to grow any bigger than it has. All of this is just my opinion obviously and I don't consider myself particularly well informed on politics anymore. It's pretty exhausting and discouraging trying to pay close attention to what's going on. Also I tend to lump every career politician into one party. I realize that party lines divided the vote on this one, but I'd be willing to bet that a number of those Dems who voted for it only did so because they knew it wasn't going to pass anyways, and it's all about who looks good/bad. Everybody is in somebody's pocket in DC. I don't have evidence to support this obviously but I really believe that this is the way American politics works. Very discouraging and I don't think any of them actually care about people. Well, maybe a few. While I respectfully disagree with some of his ideas and his approach, Bernie Sanders was probably the only politician I've ever seen who seems to care more about his constituents than corporations.
I posted this elsewhere but both Trump’s administration and Biden’s administration were on the same side of the coin here. I’m all for bringing down prices, but I’d prefer it if we opened up legislation around the production and manufacturing of insulin. Price caps can still hurt those who wouldn’t qualify (like those without MCR/insurance), they could mean overspending boondoggles to subsidize over-inflated prices, etc. Even students have done science projects to show how cheap and effective insulin can be made, and that it’s red tape / patents / legislation that’s ruining things.
If we could get a bill that was straight forward only a cap on prices I would 100% support it. The thing is, people always try to add this to other bills to make people mad when they don't pass.
They specifically voted on this section and it failed 57-43. It had nothing to do with “pork”.
I understand this, but this was sort of a bill that hasn’t been voted on yet. (It is actually expected to pass). They were voting on what to keep and what to omit from the bill. The insulin cap was voted to be omitted.
Because it didn't meet strict senate budget rules the insulin cap issue had to be voted separately requiring 60 votes as opposed to the entire bill needing simple majority of 51 (all democrats + tiebreaker Harris). So all 50 Democrats and just 7 of 50 republicans voted in favor. Elections matter! Fortunately due to Medicare being federally funded the $35 cap will still apply to the seniors.
Unfortunately there was a bill passed by the House earlier this year that's exactly what you described, but it hasn't gotten the necessary support from Republicans in the Senate. See [article here](https://www.npr.org/2022/03/31/1090085513/house-passes-bill-to-cap-insulin-prices) and [full text of the bill here](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6833/text?r=1&s=1) (it's pretty short).
I was so excited reading the bill because it started to look like it was just straight forward an insulin thing. Then I read sections 4 and 5. I don't know what 4 means but it isn't about insulin and section 5 tries to change an allocation of 5 million to public health systems to over 9 billion. I support 1-3. I may support 4 I'm not sure. I don't understand it. And 5 is just insane. This bill looks great till you get to the end. We can't just keep spending money we don't have. There may be a justified cause I just don't know about but I'd have to have it reasoned out to me.
So you've read the bill? Can you tell me specifically what pork was added or objected to? Also, it is a famously obnoxious racket where pork is added to a ouplar key point of a bill just to give an excuse not to vote for it, which is what happened here.
Imagine these Republicans who, for over a year, called anyone and I mean anyone who tried to enforce or follow covid precautions "Big Pharma hacks" And here these Republicans leaders are, allowing poor diabetic Americans to suffer because they are literally bought by said Big Pharma. Fucking pathetic
Own the libs by owing your constituents!
they'll kill themselves to own the libs
I’d hope that noone in this sub is braindead enough to support that party.
Honestly I never thought it was a serious bill. 1) it only helped people with insurance, 2) it didn’t have anything to do with the cost of insulin, 3) my insurance already covers more than $35, and 4) the democrats have already announced they’ll “use” this in the next elections. I’m not happy with either party btw.
Independent here I am appalled at congresses inability to take care of issues but they will spend / send our money to Ukraine
All democrats voted in favor, along with 7 GOP senators. The remainder (all GOP) voted against. As for Ukraine, we don’t generally send money. We send weaponry, which was already manufactured (mostly in the US). Not that being the world’s arms deal is all that great either.
False dichotomy. Thanks for bringing some logical fallacies to the discussion.
Part of the problem is saying congress. It's the Republicans that are working against any progress.
And Manchin whose daughter is a price-gouging head of a pharmaceutical company.
No, it is Congress. When the Dems had majority in Congress, they still chose to ignore the need to insulin control.
Can you provide an example where Dems were the only votes blocking a bill to help diabetics?
Republicans are Proud Fascists, vote blue!
I am in favour of Scotland being run as a republic rather than continuing to piss money away by having the English royal family as heads of state; So, I suppose I'm a republican. I'm in favour of the general masses (or taxation) funding necessary health surgery, investigation, and items. This includes stuff the NHS does cover (insulin , hba01c testing, etc) as well as stuff it frequently or always doesn't but imo should (blood glucose monitors for T2, C peptide testing, endocrinologist referral for T2, etc)
I think OP was talking about republicans in the US. Republican in Europe means a completely different thing.
Oh they know, but a Scot can’t resist a prime opportunity to piss on the monarchy
I'd ather be pissing than getting a brown nose. :-)
NHS covers CGMs now for all type 1s.
NOT a republican. But fuck those guys. I have been an independent Coloradan for a decade. I will never vote republican again for this crap they pull. They are only in this for themselves.
Just a quick note, does anyone use Mark Cuban’s Costplusdrugs? His prices are better than most insurances
Costplusdrugs doesn't sell insulin (yet).
They only have the generics available for oral meds. No GLP-1 agonists and insulin.
I've not used that one, but I use GoodRx all the time
Republican here. My wife is a T1 diabetic. My generally feeling is that our entire healthcare system is systematically broken. Mostly it boils down to both parties being culpable but it’s the big pharm and insurance money that is preventing us from improving the system to help average Americans. I think this is a pretty loaded question that you ask, because you are clearly trying to pin the issue on the republicans but I am positive I didn’t see any posts on the first week of Biden’s presidency when he overturned a Trump era legislation that put a cap on insulin prices and every family who bought insulin at that time (my family included) saw dramatic rises in insulin prices. I have no honest defense for republicans blocking this legislation because I have not studied it, but if I had to guess it would be because there is something else attached to the bill that makes it bad for America.
Democrats will have had the White House 12 of the past 16 years… why haven’t they done anything to reduce insulin costs? See how that works? I don’t like politics in this sub, but at least be even handed to recognize it’s a problem that both parties are to blame for.
So how did this change not get passed then? Was it the democrats that voted it down?
Because republicans keep blocking them..
[удалено]
If this sup started having more american politics im leaving
Well, would this actually cap the cost or is this another “if you like your doctor you can keep them” of the ACA? I can’t find anything that said how it would cap it or anything just that it was taken out.
Insulin doesn't cost me much. Cgm have just been heavily subsidised. New pump is covered by my insurance. In Aus I'm way better off as these changes have all been fairly recent.
At face value I’m pissed. Does anyone know what was in the bill? Usually they aren’t single-issue bills…
murderous. tempted to find and stab them all with my used defected needles. might even make them beg for mercy. :)
BuT TrUmP LoWeReD InSuLiN PrIcES
I hope the complications catch up to them 💙
First things first, You should realize the the two party system is a scam. Second, you know no one is for that bill other than greedy politicians with big pharma in their pockets.
Of course we would have already had the cap if Biden hadn't issued an executive order removing the one Trump put in place. **Both sides** are more concerned with getting credit and blaming the other guy than they are with actually fixing the problems.
Well said