Son_of_Perdition
Senior Member
Had a little case of sticker shock this afternoon. I have started using my last vial of long acting insulin two weeks ago. I get it in a 30 day supply vial and I also take a short acting insulin at meal time in 60 day vials. I have plenty of SA to last until Dec 31, 2015. I called Walgreens for a 3 month refill and when I went to pick it up I was floored by the cost. Over $800. Seems like I am in the doughnut hole and need to pay full price. The short acting is less costly somewhere near $345 or $172.50 monthly. Monthly retail costs for both is $441.50.
I began researching because I had a feeling the PC Doctor was prescribing the most expensive insulin for whatever reason. I found I can buy a intermediate acting insulin for $25 a vial (30 day) supply outright without a prescription at Walmart. It has been used since the early days of insulin and made by a reputable drug manufacturer. The intermediate works for up to 12 hours so instead of giving myself 4 (3 SA and 1 LA) shots a day I can now give myself 2.
My A1C was 5.4% - great, below the 6% they want you to shoot for. My average BS count was 108 for the same time period. Based upon my counts, the results of the A1C, my diet and my commitment to resolving my health concerns, I can see no problem with a change to the lower cost insulin. I use Walmart's brand of strips, meters and syringes anyway. My meter shows exactly what my PCP's shows or at least in the same ballpark. I have existed for the last 100 days on a 1500 cal/100 carb diet daily and plan to remain on that until I expire.
Based upon the insulin costs I will hit the doughnut hole each year sometime in July and that doesn't include anything else. Note, I do have a drug supplement plan but no plan pays while you are in the Medicare hole. Mine is limited to $3310 annually and if my drugs retail at what I found on the receipts I will easily pass that limit every year. We called our Healthcare Vantage Plan & found out that I can continue to purchase the same syringes, strips, meters and insulin at Walmart and probably only pay a small monthly fee (much less than the sum of everything) by getting my prescriptions moved to Walmart rather than Walgreens. And it's within walking distance.
Getting to understand Medicare, Healthcare plans and the creative accounting done by the government is nothing short of trying to become a Physics professor.
I began researching because I had a feeling the PC Doctor was prescribing the most expensive insulin for whatever reason. I found I can buy a intermediate acting insulin for $25 a vial (30 day) supply outright without a prescription at Walmart. It has been used since the early days of insulin and made by a reputable drug manufacturer. The intermediate works for up to 12 hours so instead of giving myself 4 (3 SA and 1 LA) shots a day I can now give myself 2.
My A1C was 5.4% - great, below the 6% they want you to shoot for. My average BS count was 108 for the same time period. Based upon my counts, the results of the A1C, my diet and my commitment to resolving my health concerns, I can see no problem with a change to the lower cost insulin. I use Walmart's brand of strips, meters and syringes anyway. My meter shows exactly what my PCP's shows or at least in the same ballpark. I have existed for the last 100 days on a 1500 cal/100 carb diet daily and plan to remain on that until I expire.
Based upon the insulin costs I will hit the doughnut hole each year sometime in July and that doesn't include anything else. Note, I do have a drug supplement plan but no plan pays while you are in the Medicare hole. Mine is limited to $3310 annually and if my drugs retail at what I found on the receipts I will easily pass that limit every year. We called our Healthcare Vantage Plan & found out that I can continue to purchase the same syringes, strips, meters and insulin at Walmart and probably only pay a small monthly fee (much less than the sum of everything) by getting my prescriptions moved to Walmart rather than Walgreens. And it's within walking distance.
Getting to understand Medicare, Healthcare plans and the creative accounting done by the government is nothing short of trying to become a Physics professor.
