In the last decade, the cost of insulin has tripled. Yes, tripled. The average American is spending nearly $5,705 for insulin in 2016 and that was double the cost from just four years earlier in 2012, according to USAToday. With the cost of life -saving medicine rising yearly, more and more people are struggling to afford insulin. It's quite literally killing them.
Discovered by Frederick Banting, Charles Best, and John Macleod in 1922, insulin became the answer to a disorder that had been around since Ancient Egypt. Through this medical breakthrough, a once fatal disorder become more manageable and less macabre. In 2000, another modification to insulin led to what is known as short-acting insulin. Short-acting insulin keeps the overall blood levels in control, meaning diabetics could gain even more management in their lives. With the latest insulin-based discovery being almost two decades old, it's a wonder how medicine that was sold to the public for one dollar in 1922, now costs nearly six grand.
Affording insulin should be as simple as sending in a prescription, paying a few bucks-maybe nothing if you have good insurance- and receiving your vials when CVS tells you they're ready for pick up. Instead, it's time-consuming, heartbreaking, and simply unaffordable. My insulin, which goes through my parent's insurance as I'm under 26, costs $250 a vial with each order consisting of 5 vials. That's $1,250 an order, every three months which brings it to about $5,000 a year. Multiply that by two since my mother also needs insulin, that's nearly $10,000 just to live. Luckily my parent's have a deductible that when they hit, brings it down to $30 per vial. Still, that's still $1,200 a year.
Others aren't so lucky. For those without insurance, they face much higher costs as corporate greed feeds off the suffering of its victims. No longer is it simply not making enough money, it has turned into only the rich being able to afford this medicine. No longer is it Republican versus Democrat policy and who signed what into legislation. It is the fault of all the higher-ups, the ones who pass legislation and allow for corporations to profit off the suffering of people simply trying to live.
With the #insulinforall movement gaining a bigger and bigger platform, Diabetics are coming together to fight for their lives and honor those who lost their lives to corporate greed. I live in constant anxiety that if my parents lose their jobs, or I age out of my insurance without holding a job with the insurance I could be the next martyr being remembered in a hashtag. It's time to make not only insulin affordable but all medication accessible to those who need it. We are sick and tired of being told that it's just how it is, or that publicized medicine is socialist and un-American. It is time to hold those in power accountable and if they refuse then we'll vote them out. My life and the 16 million Americans who suffer from Diabetes are a million times more important than the trillions of dollars you're making leeching off these men, women, and children.
We are not looking to live extravagantly. We are just looking to live. I and so many others shouldn't have to choose between being broke or being dead.
This article serves as a reminder to all those who lost their lives trying to survive in a government that prioritizes profit over people.
Meaghan Carter, 47 years old.
Micah Fischer, 26 years old.
Jesse Lutgen, 32 years old.
Alec Raeshawn Smith, 26 years old.
Antavia Lee Worsham, 22 years old.
Shane Patrick Boyle, 48 years old.
…And so many more who were never written about. Their lives and accomplishments will not be forgotten, and we will keep fighting in their honor.
