Screwed

I am a diabetic, and have been for two decades. I always knew that I would be, mostly because of my family medical history. My Father, his mother, and his father all had diabetes. It killed every one of them before they were 64 years old. I often joke that I lost the genetic lottery. My grandfather died when he was 47 years old. My grandmother, when she was 63- after having to live without legs for two years. My father died at 62. When I was diagnosed with diabetes, I lived in fear that I too would be dead before I could collect Social Security.

About 4 years ago, the diabetic medicines that I was on stopped being effective, and my A1C climbed to 10.0. This is a part of the disease- diabetes is a progressive disease. My doctor wanted to put me on Insulin, but knowing just how fragile diabetics become when they go on Insulin, I wanted other options. I see the story every day- insulin dependent diabetics inevitably go down the same road, ending in amputations, kidney failure, and death. Having to be on Insulin is a death sentence. I wasn’t going to do it.

That’s when the new class of diabetic medicines came along, and they were a miracle drug. Once I began taking Mounjaro, my A1C dropped to the mid 6’s, and my blood sugar is now well controlled. For the first time, I began thinking that I might actually make it to my 70’s. My last A1C was 6.2.

Since I could prove that I had been on Metformin and Actos for more than a decade, my insurance was willing to cover the $3,000 per month charge for the medicine. Insurance companies hate these new drugs- that’s why they got the Biden administration to go on a rampage to lower the cost of Insulin- they needed a cheaper alternative to the new medications.

Then two years ago, I got a new job. A new job means new insurance. The hospital that I work for, who is also my insurance company, requires you to get all of your medicine from the company’s pharmacy. That pharmacy has done everything that they can to force me to switch from the more expensive drug and take insulin. They delay filling my prescriptions, and say that they don’t have any, but if I would only switch to insulin, they have plenty of that available. I refused, and kept forcing them to pay for the drugs. As long as my doctor says that this drug is medically necessary, the insurance has to pay for it.

So this month, two months after the open enrollment period ended, my insurance company informed me that they will no longer pay for me to see any doctor who isn’t employed by the company that owns the hospital, and not coincidentally, the pharmacy. Not only that, but they are prohibiting me from paying out of pocket to see my current doctor. That was confirmed by my doctor this morning. They were threatened with legal action if they continued to see me for cash while I have active insurance. All of my future doctor’s appointments were cancelled. I offered to pay cash, and my doctor’s office told me that they can’t let me do that as long as I have active insurance. Now I am forced to see a company doctor, who will immediately place me on insulin.

I have a three month supply of medication left, and will be out of it by April 28. I can be added to my wife’s insurance during her open enrollment period, but that isn’t until July 1. It looks like they are going to force me to become Insulin dependent. I am sitting here thinking that my employer would rather kill me than pay for my medicine.

The only way to be added to my wife’s insurance earlier is to get a new job, and it has to be involuntary. I have to find a new job, then find a way to get fired, and I have to do it within the next three months. Maybe I can ask my boss to do me a favor and fire me.

My only other option is to try to convince a compounding pharmacy to sell me some generic, but you have to be obese for that to be legal, and I am not fat enough for that.

I am screwed.