There isn't much discussion of why it's expensive in the US specifically. In other countries insulin prices haven't risen in the same way and are still affordable. So why is the price gouging only happening in the US?
As a T1 diabetic in the UK, where the wonderful NHS covers all of my insulin costs, this is one reason why I'd never be able to move to or work in the US.
I'm a T1 Diabetic in the US and I consider myself very lucky to work in software. I have good insurance, so my medication only costs me about $200 per month. That's just an additional cost I have to pay to be alive, on top of all the other stuff everyone else has to pay for, too. If I had a lower paying job, or a job with less good health insurance, I can see how I'd be priced out of living.
I'm in Australia, my brothers recently diagnosed as a T1 diabetic, he's currently taking a career break to spend time with his family and get his health and medication all sorted out. Thats all fine here because the costs are reasonable, I see these reports form the US and can't help but wonder when it will get here, most 'innovations' do, fortunately the US health system doesn't seem to be getting a foot hold here.
It seems to me, as an observer, that the health system along with the cost of education have been set up to produce a slave class, I could be wrong but its definitely something that I fight to keep out of here. Five years or so ago I was regarded as a socialist, but with how things are going, most people I speak to no longer argue about it, so it seems the battle is being won here. I find it hard to understand how there aren't marches in the street over there about this.
And there is progress being made. The ACA passed under Obama was a very significant step forward, and public perception is shifting in favor of more government involvement in healthcare[1]. As with most things, the problem is money in politics and media. Republicans resist any attempt to slow the accumulation of money into the hands of the ultra-wealthy, and also own the most popular news channels, so they've convinced a significant chunk of the population that making the wealthy wealthier will somehow help them. A good chunk of Democrats are also paid to oppose changes to the current healthcare regime. But there's a growing number of Democrats actively campaigning for single-payer and other sane systems, and support among voters for single-payer is also growing[2].
There's hope. The situation isn't so bad that violence is the answer, yet.
[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/10/03/most-contin...
[2] https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/339247-poll-support-gr...
Hope you don't lose your job for some bullshit reason.
My best guess is that the price rises were to bring in some immediate profits in the short term ("this quarter isn't looking good") and them these were shortly followed by the compensating discount you have to give to your pissed off customer.
Problem was that nobody gave a toss about the profit margin on the lone guy paying $1000 a month (or $1300 a month) at retail.
The price hasn't really risen in the US either. Or at least not as much as the article implies. The list price has gone up but the corresponding discount given to insurance companies via PBM has gone up about the same. For most people it doesn't make a difference because they buy through insurance. For people like in TFA they get screwed because they have to pay list price. Theoretically, the number of people in that situation should be 0 post Obama care but obviously there are cracks.
Unfortunately, the guy in the the articld fell through a crack. Mostly because he didn't realiZe that buying through insurance would save him a bunch of money. Or maybe he was at the wrong pharmacy to get a huge manufacturer discount.
Being in an employee-owned company, I'm very aware of how much the company pays for insurance. It never goes down, it always goes up. The company has to switch to plans where employees pay larger and larger deductibles, just to keep the insurance cost increases down in the 10% per year range. Usually the reason costs go up is because we "use it too much", people need to use generic drugs, etc. Of course, it's hard to determine actual costs in such a convoluted system, but orders of magnitude cost increases for medicines obviously plays a significant role.
It's not really that difficult. You just buy insurance or get on Medicare/Medicaid and you get the discounts. That's not to say that the system hasn't been grossly perverted. Just that the hoops aren't difficult to jump through for pretty much everyone.
The hoops are incredibly difficult, just at random.
My son was just diagnosed with T1 diabetes as a juvenile. The insurance company denied coverage for the ER visit and in-patient overnight stay after being admitted. They stated since he was not yet hyperglycemic and in acute stress that it should have been an outpatient procedure.
So what sounded like a $50 co-pay because he has good insurance, turned into a $20,000 bill out of the blue that must be fought.