Left insulin at home

[Warkman58]

I did last year, but I was able to get some insulin at Dublin airport, if they hadn’t been able to get me sone, I would have had to buy in Walgreens at quite a high price, but so long as you have your prescription, you should be ok

[f1girly]

Really hope you get everything sorted quickly and through the insurance.

[LDISNEYFOX]

This is my biggest fear, forgetting my boys insulin! So I put a big notice on the front door “DO NOT FORGET INSULIN” it has been a life saviour!

Hope you get the insulin sorted ok.

[Talland 2016]

Don't know if it's still the case but in the past Diabetes UK either sold/ recommended travel insurance companies where it covered getting insulin to you / sourcing it locally wherever you were in the world
My brother used them

[ChrisS]

Phew, glad you got sorted out, even if it is pricey. Now have a smashing holiday

Our Fl friend, Rich, is type 2, retired and on Medicare, 3 month supply of Invokana meds cost $1500, discounted down to $1200 for the US Gov, Rich pays $291 co-pay, but that is just one of his required meds! He was hugely NHS impressed when I advised Brit diabetics receive meds free of charge - he also pays $300 a month for top-up health insurance ensuring he's fully covered. With his other prescriptions/insurance top up he knocks out circa $550 a month on healthcare, prior to retiring he paid $900 a month for health insurance with a $6k a year co-pay... oh vey!

[Puddle5]

Originally Posted by ChrisS

Phew, glad you got sorted out, even if it is pricey. Now have a smashing holiday

Our Fl friend, Rich, is type 2, retired and on Medicare, 3 month supply of Invokana meds cost $1500, discounted down to $1200 for the US Gov, Rich pays $291 co-pay, but that is just one of his required meds! He was hugely NHS impressed when I advised Brit diabetics receive meds free of charge - he also pays $300 a month for top-up health insurance ensuring he's fully covered. With his other prescriptions/insurance top up he knocks out circa $550 a month on healthcare, prior to retiring he paid $900 a month for health insurance with a $6k a year co-pay... oh vey!

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Wow! didn't realise it was so expensive for health cover in the US

[Floridatilly]

Originally Posted by LDISNEYFOX

This is my biggest fear, forgetting my boys insulin! So I put a big notice on the front door “DO NOT FORGET INSULIN” it has been a life saviour!

Hope you get the insulin sorted ok.

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Our biggest fear too lol
We also have a big note 😂😂
It also includes
Passports
Tickets
Money
It’s no big deal if we forget anything else lol

[ChrisS]

Originally Posted by Puddle5

Wow! didn't realise it was so expensive for health cover in the US

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Hi Puddles, what I related re our pal Rich is nowt. As I'd been admitted to Cape Coral hospital a week after arriving in Fl a convo with friends surrounding healthcare reared it's head, they stated many Americans are impressed by our NHS, As a veteran all his healthcare is via the VA, his wife tho has no insurance (unable to afford), she's 65 in October and will begin Medicare... she began to feel unwell a couple of weeks later and ended up in severe pain, EMS attended and very quickly ascertained she needed Medivac off the island to Fort Myers Gulf Coast Hospital, she was having a heart attack and required surgery to fit two stents with three nights in ICU.

A few weeks later the Medivac bill arrived, hope you're sitting down... 7 min helicopter ride with medics was $47,090 - rough guess, with all other treatment, check-up's, meds, hospital et al., perhaps half a million. As retiree's they're hoping to set up a payment plan, but if unacceptable they could lose their home to pay for her healthcare.

The stories are many fold, other friends; he had a stroke, one of his required meds was $500 a month, they didn't have the money, he didn't take the meds and had another stroke. Another friend pays $1800 a month for health insurance for him and his wife, even at that figure they have a co-pay!

A friends sister is type 1, her work insurance involves $10k a year co-pay, she simply can't afford her insulin so she scrimps, on more than one occasion she's become ill from doing so. It's easy to say 'just get the insulin', but referring to $500 for a month of Invokana tablets I'm guessing insulin may be more expensive still.

In 2015 Mylan, raised the price of Epipens by 400% (Mylan didn’t invent the life saving pen but bought the rights to sell them in 2007). Mylan CEO, Heather Bresch claimed the price hike was justified due to a brand awareness campaign and package redesign. Bresch slid past her money-grubbing behaviour and focused instead on her company’s sensitive and caring response to public outrage. After hearing people were angry about Mylan raising a two pack of EpiPens from circa $100 to more than $600, Bresch said Mylan didn’t hesitate to bring out a generic version of the EpiPen that sold for just $300. Apparently Mylan was profitably selling EpiPens in Canada and Europe for a fraction of the US price.

In 2015 Martin Shkreli raised a 6 decade old anti-infection/life saving HIV drug called Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 a pill. Shkreli became the poster boy for industry avarice in February 2016 when he refused to testify in Congress, invoking his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination and smirking all the while at frustrated lawmakers. In 2017 Shkreli was jailed for 7 years for fraud (none pharma related).

US healthcare is a massive industry, intent, as per all businesses, to make billions of profit for pharmaceutical companies, health insurers and healthcare providers. Unfortunately health related costings are now so high a large % of Americans can no longer afford the premiums. Few years ago I transcribed an interview with a US Dr, she stated if a patient arrived and presented what appeared to be valid insurance, and if they were unable to confirm validity she wouldn't treat the patient and advise they attend the ER. Oddly she used an example of the insurer closing for the day/weekend, I thought health insurers provided a 24 hour claims line.