Current Events > Colorado becomes first state to limit insulin prices, regardless of supply

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/24/726817332/colorado-caps-insulin-co-pays-at-100-for-insured-residents

I didn't even know this was a thing we, as a country, could just do. Wtf, like it's really that easy? Why not put this up for a vote in every state asap? Republican will have a few naysayers, sure, but this should have widespread bipartisan support.
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Good for them.
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Why does Colorado always seem to be ahead of the rest of the country?
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I fucking love Jared Polis
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Fuck Big Pharma
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Hell yeah
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Insurance companies will have to absorb the balance.

LOL, and I'm sure they won't simply pass that on to everyone else so we're all subsidizing other people's obesity.

ArchiePeck posted...

Insurance companies will have to absorb the balance.

LOL, and I'm sure they won't simply pass that on to everyone else so we're all subsidizing other people's obesity.

Then pass another law to prevent that too
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Why not just make insulin free?
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For insured residents
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Makeveli_lives posted...

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/24/726817332/colorado-caps-insulin-co-pays-at-100-for-insured-residents

I didn't even know this was a thing we, as a country, could just do. Wtf, like it's really that easy? Why not put this up for a vote in every state asap? Republican will have a few naysayers, sure, but this should have widespread bipartisan support.

Big Pharma is just as much in the Democrats' pockets, though they pretend otherwise. The CEO of Mylan (EpiPen price hike) is the daughter of a Democrat senator.
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A $100 insurance copay cap for insulin is like... Basically no change for anyone except people who demand Lantus when their insurance covers Levemir or vice-versa.

Standard copay for those is much less than $100.

There will be like five people in Colorado who will benefit in any way from this.

But it wins some low-braincell virtue points from voters I guess.
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stuff like this is why helping the poor always backfires, you just pass the costs to people are aren't poor and they'll not only get pissed off they'll want revenge and so the poor will be even worse off then before
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Makeveli_lives posted...

but this should have widespread bipartisan support

Socialism! /s
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tremain07 posted...

stuff like this is why helping the poor always backfires, you just pass the costs to people are aren't poor and they'll not only get pissed off they'll want revenge and so the poor will be even worse off then before

Not really.

Stuff like this has a lot of words that do nothing.

Making a bill limiting INSURED co-pays for insulin at $100 is like making a bill requiring all table salt to have sodium in it.

Lantus and Levemir co-pays on-formulary are often much less than that.

They're like $300 out of pocket, but people buying them out of pocket would be uninsured and not covered by this bill.
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This seems like a bad way to fix the problem. Use the state's bargaining power to decrease prices with hope that soon that will be federal policy as well. Price controls don't work.
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TLDR version: The bill limits insulin co-pays for insured people to amounts of money higher than they're already spending.

Good jerb?

Next we can pass a bill limiting electric bills for individual houses to less than $1 Trillion per month.
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DarkRoast posted...

tremain07 posted...

stuff like this is why helping the poor always backfires, you just pass the costs to people are aren't poor and they'll not only get pissed off they'll want revenge and so the poor will be even worse off then before

Not really.

Stuff like this has a lot of words that do nothing.

Making a bill limiting INSURED co-pays for insulin at $100 is like making a bill requiring all table salt to have sodium in it.

Lantus and Levemir co-pays on-formulary are often much less than that.

They're like $300 out of pocket, but people buying them out of pocket would be uninsured and not covered by this bill.

These are extremely generous price quotes. I literally just had a guy pay almost $3000 for Humalog AFTER insurance picked up about $5000 and his Levemir was over $100 even with a manufacturer coupon added on top of his insurance. Everyone isn't as bad off as this guy, but your numbers are off.
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Stick to your formulary and there you go
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DarkRoast posted...

Stick to your formulary and there you go

Those are only median numbers and non-fomulary just means not covered. High-deductible plans and various kinds of insurance shenanigans can lead someone to spending a lot on drugs. I love getting a covered drug sent in for a patient and having to tell them it's still $400. I'd like to know the days supply they are talking about with Synthroid because I rarely see prices that low for the actual brand.
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This bill wouldn't change high deductible plans

That's the point

It does nothing.

It makes Lantus and Levemir theoretically cheaper for people with good insurance. The people who least needed cheaper insulin.
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hockeybub89 posted...

DarkRoast posted...

Stick to your formulary and there you go

Those are only median numbers and non-fomulary just means not covered. High-deductible plans and various kinds of insurance shenanigans can lead someone to spending a lot on drugs. I love getting a covered drug sent in for a patient and having to tell them it's still $400.

I agree with this. A copay >$100 for insulin, even when covered, is extremely common.

I just noticed "regardless of supply" actually means how much insulin you need per month, not the scarcity of insulin itself.

That's actually a much better deal then.

A $100 cap on individual vials for insureds would've been worthless.
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DarkRoast posted...

This bill wouldn't change high deductible plans

That's the point

You were saying that sticking to the formulary keeps prices down. That is what I'm addressing. Sure, it's cheaper than not having insurance, but "Take what's covered and you won't pay much" is bunk. That doesn't even address the potential issue of a covered drug not working for you.

I agree with you that this bill seems pretty toothless. There is a lot that needs to be addressed help people.
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Honestly the bigger issue is that we need a bill that also impacts the uninsured.

Well, we actually need universal health care but that's another debate.
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Well even with this bill its fixing one problem while creating another. No insurance is going to absorb the costs when they can just pass it on in the form of higher premiums.

DarkRoast posted...

Honestly the bigger issue is that we need a bill that also impacts the uninsured.

Well, we actually need universal health care but that's another debate.

Yeah. Starting with helping the uninsured would lessen the burden all the way down the line. Prices have gotten out of control.
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BroodRyu posted...

Well even with this bill its fixing one problem while creating another. No insurance is going to absorb the costs when they can just pass it on in the form of higher premiums.

Our healthcare system thrives on the ability for costs to be as hidden as possible, so nobody realizes just how much they're overpaying for everything.

Everything right down to the cost of food is impacted by hiding healthcare costs. The lettuce you buy at a grocery store has the cost of employee benefits hidden into it. Our premiums are impacted by bills like these.

In the end, people will pay the $100 whether it's up front with the copay, or hidden deep within their increased premiums.
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Yeah, so while its nice to see something happening, weve still got a long way to go.

For every uninsured type 1 diabetic that gets sent to the ICU in DKA because they couldn't afford insulin, that's a $20,000+ hospitalization that could've been avoided.

It's literally cheaper and more fiscally conservative to give them their insulin for free.

That same issue applies to uninsured individuals using the ER as primary care. Actually cheaper just to insure them for free.
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Sprivia is 3x the cost of Advair non formulary? WTF?
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Hop103 posted...

Sprivia is 3x the cost of Advair non formulary? WTF?

Advair is now generic so its actually become fairly cheap. Or a lot cheaper than it used to be.

Hop103 posted...

Sprivia is 3x the cost of Advair non formulary? WTF?

Advair is a LABA/Steroid and has been around for a long time

Spiriva is a LAMA. Not the same kind of drug, despite treating the same condition. It's also newer and IIRC not generic.
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DarkRoast posted...

For every uninsured type 1 diabetic that gets sent to the ICU in DKA because they couldn't afford insulin, that's a $20,000+ hospitalization that could've been avoided.

It's literally cheaper and more fiscally conservative to give them their insulin for free.

That same issue applies to uninsured individuals using the ER as primary care. Actually cheaper just to insure them for free.

Amen
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thanks-gohan posted...

Nall posted...

Thats good news but it says that premiums are likely going to raise to compensate.

Must suck for people with other life threatening illnesses.

Bills like these are just hollow virtue signaling. I agree with the intent but the execution is meaningless.
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