What Is The Answer For Rising Diabetic Costs Due To Complications?

An epidemic of diabetes, along with more aggressive treatment, could result in a near 70 percent increase in spending on endocrine and diabetes therapies from 2007 through 2009, according to a study released today by Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MHS), one of the nation’s leading pharmacy benefit managers.

So, why is it that my pharmacy insurance plan pay a big fat zero towards any of my diabetic supplies. That’s right, the big goose egg. When you do the math, each little bitty test strip is about $1.10, which means since I test 3-4 times a day, my cost is $130 dollars (US) a month. Then there are the lancets and some miscellaneous other supplies that add up. When you add in the medications that are only partially covered by the pharmacy plan you can see why many diabetics are frequent fliers in the hospital.

It is not a case of, “I am not going to take my medication and check my blood sugar”, but, “I can’t afford to do so”! I see so many of my patients try to rob Peter to pay Paul. They have to ration their meds and diabetic supplies. It is sad. The cost for diabetic complications is just going up, up, up and something needs to be done.

But why don’t we look at the care and coverage that can be afforded. If you are prescribing a patient a prescription you know they cannot afford to fill , do something about it. Either change the med to one that has a generic, get the patient involved in a federal program, give them free samples, or point them in a more feasible direction.

I know that we can’t help everyone, but it is scary. My husband and I make good money, have a nice house, plenty of extras, but there are even months for us that I get frustrated with the amount of money we spend at the doctor’s and pharmacy. How much is too much, you know?

“For those patients who depend on medications to avoid serious complications, compliance is paramount,” said Epstein. “Lower-cost drugs help remove barriers to compliance, as do safety programs that identify non-compliant patients and provide additional counseling to modify the behaviors and foster more positive outcomes.”

What do you think is the answer? How can we improve this very real and scary situation? Who is responsible for making the changes? So many questions…

via PharmaLive