The clerk at the pharmacy looks down apologetically. “Hmm, looks like it’ll be (some egregious
amount of dollars). Is that okay?”
“Sure,” I say and swipe my credit card, thinking about how the
three-month supply of medication just took away my disposable income for the
current month and possibly beyond.
This scenario used to happen consistently when I went to
pick up insulin and/or the other things involved with diabetes MDI (multiple
daily injections) like test strips, pen needles, lancets, etc.. Despite the ridiculousness of the question posed
I usually wasn’t irritated by it, instead seeing it as a sort of reassurance
that it wasn’t normal to be paying this much at the pharmacy and to feel it as
a considerable cost in my budget.
My reflex every time, though I suppressed it, was to say, “No,
it’s actually not okay. But I don’t see
much of a choice.”
Exciting things have been happening within the diabetes
community lately relating to advocacy for insulin affordability. At the same time, prices have been going up,
and the political climate regarding access to care in the U.S. is by the best
measures tumultuous.
What I will say in the interest of brevity is this: every
time I pay this bill, even the times when I truly couldn’t afford it and didn’t
get to my car before I started crying, I felt lucky that I was still able to
get the medication I needed to stay alive.
I know there are people around the world who can’t, knowing we all
deserve to.
“Life is a pre-existing condition. Why won’t you cover it?”
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