> The real problem is that people are choosing to believe sensational headlines instead of doing their own research.
I think the real problem is that people believe they could receive a 3k bill for doing the right thing.
> I’m seeing a sharp increase in the number of young people who don’t understand how their own health insurance works. They just assume it’s awful because that’s what they read in the news.
As someone who grew up with parents who had health insurance, I still had to see them choose to not go to the doctor due to costs. I saw medical bills arrive. I've had to deal with calling to find out if the doctor I needed to go to was in network, and yet still fearing that information was incorrect due to the massive bill I could expect afterwards. I've seen a 5k deductible plan staring me in the face.
Call it anecdotal all you want, but I'm not unique and this is the reason that a lot of young people know their health insurance is trash.
> I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to tell people that generic insulin is actually only $25/vial at Walmart instead of the hundreds to thousands that they read about in the news.
Assuming the other poster is correct that this isn't viable for everyone, it's a little funny given how you're harping on about those millenials/zoomers and all their lack of knowledge.
> This kind of thing is actively driving people away from taking the 10 minutes to understand their health insurance and seeking proper care.
Most people, if they have the average ~4k deductible, are not going to go to the doctor because they fear a 4k bill.
> Assuming the other poster is correct that this isn't viable for everyone
I'm very familiar with it, actually. The idea that it's not viable for some patients is further misinformation, sadly. If you want to understand further, you can search for "insulin analogs".
The generic insulin available cheaply at Walmart does work, but it also requires dosing adjustments due to the different duration. If patients take the time to adjust their dosages, it will work. If patients try to apply the same exact protocol they used with a different insulin analog, they will have problems. This is where the "doesn't work for everyone" myth comes from.
> it's a little funny given how you're harping on about those millenials/zoomers and all their lack of knowledge.
Please, I said nothing about "millenials/zoomers". Most of the diabetics I know are neither millenials nor zoomers.
This is why I hesitate to discuss practical health care advice online. Too many people want to turn it into a political debate. I never suggested our system was great and I fully agree that we need to make changes.
But it's not doing anyone any favors to spread misinformation to amplify the urgency for political change. It's critically important that we all work on spreading the most accurate information to people so they can direct their care responsibly within the bounds of our (flawed) system, rather than using scare tactics to amplify the politically urgency.
>“Human insulins are a reasonable option for many patients with Type 2 diabetes,” said Yale endocrinologist Kasia Lipska, who often prescribes the drugs for patients who can’t afford newer formulations. “But the drug isn’t optimal for everybody. And human insulin sold at Walmart is definitely not the solution to our insulin crisis.”
Nor are Diabetes advocates:
>For people with Type 1 diabetes, human insulins “are harder to live on, lead to worse control, make it harder to hold down a job, impact quality of life,” said James Elliott, a trustee at T1International, an independent patient advocacy group, “and not everyone lives near a Walmart.”
You can't hide behind "not wanting to engage in political debate" when you yourself misconstrue the reality of the situation to make it seem less urgent than it actually is.
> Please, I said nothing about "millenials/zoomers".
My bad, I saw you mentioning young people a few sentences earlier and my brain tied the two together.
> But it's not doing anyone any favors to spread misinformation to amplify the urgency for political change.
Each person has their own level of urgency. Personally, I'm not cool half a million bankruptcies a year due to healthcare costs, but maybe a health-exec from Pfizer is. You have your threshold for urgency, but many people have long since passed theirs. They have perfectly valid reasons for doing so.
I think the real problem is that people believe they could receive a 3k bill for doing the right thing.
> I’m seeing a sharp increase in the number of young people who don’t understand how their own health insurance works. They just assume it’s awful because that’s what they read in the news.
As someone who grew up with parents who had health insurance, I still had to see them choose to not go to the doctor due to costs. I saw medical bills arrive. I've had to deal with calling to find out if the doctor I needed to go to was in network, and yet still fearing that information was incorrect due to the massive bill I could expect afterwards. I've seen a 5k deductible plan staring me in the face.
Call it anecdotal all you want, but I'm not unique and this is the reason that a lot of young people know their health insurance is trash.
> I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to tell people that generic insulin is actually only $25/vial at Walmart instead of the hundreds to thousands that they read about in the news.
Assuming the other poster is correct that this isn't viable for everyone, it's a little funny given how you're harping on about those millenials/zoomers and all their lack of knowledge.
> This kind of thing is actively driving people away from taking the 10 minutes to understand their health insurance and seeking proper care.
Most people, if they have the average ~4k deductible, are not going to go to the doctor because they fear a 4k bill.