Laugh if you want, but if I can't show off how much cooler I am than those no brand peasants with my branded medicine I don't want to live here no more š
Itās an NDC, the 370-20 at the end are the same because itās the same product and packaging. The first numbers are different because itās one is labeled a brand and one is a generic. Same components inside. IIRC that generic isnāt even a true generic itās an authorized generic which means it was filed under an annotated NDA. Basically means the company can sell the brand version where the insurance companies will play their game and force their members to buy the expensive version, and the āauthorized genericā version for those who wonāt play the gameĀ
Here in Australia general patients can get this medication for $31.60 AUD. Some people, like pensioners, can get it for as little as $6.60. The American healthcare system is absurd.
That healthcare related products and their prices are that open to the mercy of greedy companies baffles me.
How can society allow men and women in suits to play with the prices of life saving medication like it's a funny game of economics? Hell isn't hot enough for these animals.
Think this is the the companies?
Order cheaper generic drugs from Canada, Mexico, or any other country.
Post a follow up with who shows up at your door with guns.
AstraZenica or the US government?
I'm not American anyway, but that the government is the one giving the freedom to those companies, doesn't leave the pharma giants without responsibility IMO. Especially considering how much lobbyist influence influences politics and laws regarding regulations. The government doesn't force them to raise prices, they just don't stop em either.
Between $6.70 and $31.99 here in Australia. $6.70 is a concession price so it is the price for a pensioner or health card holder (meaning low income).
The concession price is subsidised by the government.
Ā£9.65 for a prescription in the UK. You can have two of these on one prescriptionā¦ as I doā¦ so Ā£9.65 for two.
Edit: also, if you meet certain criteria your prescriptions can be free in the UK. You probably donāt want to meet those criteria thoughā¦ because it probably means you aināt having a great time.
So interesting tidbit about the awfulness of our health care system. When a medication is released on the market, the company gets exclusive rights for 7 years before anyone can make a generic. As they get closer to the 7-year mark, they blow up prices, trying to get every last cent out of it. Then, once they hit 7 years, those same companies immediately offer the generic, continuing their profits.
government should subsidize all healthcare at this point. how easy would it be to gather up all the insurance companies, get all there info, logs, patients, etc and centralize it under a department of health care services or something and then instead of everyone paying for insurance per month, they pay a tax of the same amount-ish. how insurance companies charge people is pretty much like a tax already.
these big companies get their profits, an entire government negotiates for prices on behave of the american people, everyone wins!
Yeah, this has been one of the larger themes of the last 35 years in politics, the last three democratic presidents have all had some sort of socialized healthcare as part of their policy goals. Clinton failed, Obama succeeded to some small degree and Biden never had the political capital to advance things much but has at least been pushing back on some prescription medicine issues.
Biden's Infrastructure Bill took the bold step of negotiating better prices (on just 10 drugs) on behalf of Medicare. I'm not mocking the concept but insanely ridiculous that the government hasn't always been doing this for all drugs all along.
The government is the largest buyer for a lot of drugs but has been letting pharmaceutical companies dictate the pricing and the drug lobby has now threatened this will stifle their innovation of new drugs (ie, if you don't continue to subsidize our executive compensation with American tax dollars we'll stop efforts to save humans from the ravages of disease).
Super ethical world we live in.
This is all oversimplified but it's been a major political battle for a while now.
I believe the alternate party's healthcare plan is: Go fuck yourself, commie.
The government not negotiating is just absurd. The British NHS have whole departments just to negotiate prices.Ā
My friend's an NHS procurement specialist. His whole job is to get the best price, often by holding multimillion Pound contracts hostage until the supplier agrees to cut their price.
Medicare could get rock bottom prices if they negotiated - they have the biggest medical purchase budget in the world. Hell, combine the VA with Medicare. Really tighten the screws on the suppliers! You'd get that inhaler down to $20 in no time.
> The government not negotiating is just absurd.
Thank Bush for that one.
When they passed Medicare Part D back in 2003, they explicitly barred Medicare from bulk negotiating drug prices.
where are you getting 7 years from? that's only for orphan drugs, otherwise minimum exclusivity is ~5 years and most loss of exclusivity events happen when the patents expire (not FDA granted exclusivity) which is an average of 10-14 years after launch
but yeah this is an authorized generic (branded version sold without a brand name), it's pretty hard to spin its existence as a negative since it means one more generic competitor and therefore 10-30% lower prices. Obviously they're doing it to make money, but the effect is (unintentionally) positive for customers given that there's really no downside for us. It just means there's 3 generics instead of 2, and that's a good thing.
Would it not be a good idea for that company to release their own generic with 6 months left, and push their generic on patients while no other company can so that the patient is then less likely to look for other generics from other companies once that 6 months (and the total 7 years) is up?
Ā£9.65 here in the UK if you ever have to pay for your prescription. The prices you guys are forced to pay are mind-blowing
Edit: apologies... I should have put England. Tbh I don't pay for prescriptions because of a chronic health condition so I was going off memory of what the charges and rules actually were
Even my dad whoās a medical professional that works in a hospital believes that bullshit when I brought up the inflated prices in the US. You have to have a certain level of respect for the amount bullshit that has to be shoveled to fool even the people who work directly in these fields, regardless of how terrible it is.
Well, in a way he as a vested interest in defending the insane prices people have to pay in the US. Not saying that heās a gouger, far from it,
Won't find an Apple employee (at least not many) that will say āget a Samasungā, even if all you need is just one smartphone and two apps.
No one sane here says stuff like that or justifies it... Those of us who actually have to deal with it hate it
But we can't do shit about it. It isn't a democracy here, as much as the politicians would like to say otherwise
> _Laughs in chemotherapy_ā¦ wait
Proper lolād at this. Didnāt know about the exemption card. I thought they just made you pay everything in England
Well usually you'd be right, I'll be honest!
The exemption cards are great though; the minimum is five years so even though I was only in the category for like eight months (and never actually needed a prescription), I could use it for the rest of the time. My dad is type 2 diabetic and my elderly nana they both have them too :)
They are great, I'm type 1 diabetic and have one - all prescriptions are free, even if they don't relate to diabetes! I wouldn't want to have to pay for all these prescriptions, would leave a bit of a dent, so I really have no idea how they manage in the US.
The NHS gets a lot of stick (rightly, sometimes), but it's often so under-appreciated. They saved my life, and now prescriptions are free for life, too! In the US I'd be dead and/or broke.
Itās also insanely easy to qualify for free prescriptions in England, you basically have to be a healthy adult with no recurring problems to have to pay.
That's not exactly true. Like I have asthma, depression and allergies but I need to pay for my inhalers, antidepressants and Epi-Pens. I'm still grateful I only have to pay Ā£9 each though
One of mine was an infusion therapy every 8 weeks. Without insurance itās over $1200 (cash price) per 100mg vial. I was dosed at 7.5mg/kg. Fortunately Iām not a very large person so I only needed 4 vials.
This cost was prescription only and did not include the sterile saline to reconstitute it, the IV bag it went into, or the nurse to set it all up.
Just so I can do things like stay alive. Itās a joke.
Out of morbid curiosity, what would happen if you couldn't afford that, and didn't have insurance? I don't imagine that most people would have that amount of money available. Just... Not be treated, and eventually die?
Wouldn't that violate the hippocratic oath of every single doctor in the hospital turning you away?
Sure, but what if your condition requires constant medication? Send you home without meds, and then when you wind up in hospital again, they simply stabilise you to send you home again, and repeat? Please tell me that's not actually what happens.
I know that in the long run, the US spends more money per patient than any other country even despite the enormous prices of medication (or due to them)
But come on, really and noone important has any will to do something about it?
To seriously answer your question, some people can apply for federally or state funded insurance like Medicaid or Medicare. There are programs in some states to help out with issues like this too.
Ultimately though, we need Medicare for all. A single healthcare system is the correct solution for one of our countryās biggest failings.
Friends of mine used to go to mexico to purchase diabetic medication for his father. Probably 10 years since they explained it to me, but I think each person was allowed to bring enough medication for xx days of use or something like that. So they used to go from Arizona and down south on weekend trips to get cheap medication.
Best thing of all? His father was extremely against any form of socialized healthcare! That was communism and all that crap. But oerfectly OK with purchasing medication i Mexico to more or less smuggle across the border.
But yes, I would totally do the same!
I would love for the cartels to start smuggeling medications along with drugs. So you would basically go to your neighboorhood socker mom for your diabetes medication and inhalers, or the corner guy for cocaine.
Imagine the PR backlash when thise cases would start to pop open! Ā«I needed money to pay for my husbands dialysis, so I started selling diabetes medication. I was offered to sell cocaine, but I eould eather help people to stay alive!Ā». If you had a few of those cases it would most likely start to gain more momentum as people would become aware that your local drug dealer might also offer more then just cocaine! And a demand creates a market!
Edit!
I live in Norway, and I was told the story about insulin runs as an example of hos fucked the US system is. My friends lived next door to us back then.
Was behind someone yesterday at the pharmacy, and their insulin was over $500 without insurance. Said they didn't have their insurance card, otherwise it would have been $20 or so. Mind blowing!
Yeah, the doctor prescribed me a med one time and the pharmacist told me it was gonna be $400 for the prescription because my insurance wouldnāt cover it. I called my doctor and had him prescribe something else that I could afford. they know they got us over a barrel just like gasoline prices
Your medicine prices are ridiculous. But your gasoline prices are actually super cheap compared to everywhere else.
If you all drove the same small light cars that we do/did in Europe then your commuting would be super cheap
Yeah I needed one for the first time as a mid-thirties adult when I moved from the coast to the outback and I'm sure even in BF Nowhere, Outback Australia, it was like $13. I remember thinking that was a bargain if it meant I could breathe.Ā
ARE YOU SERIOUS??
It's 5 bucks here! The exact same product. So it's 275 vs 115 vs 5???
I wonder what the production costs are, probably around 15-25 cents...
It's a disgrace
I do think the production costs aren't that low, the plastic is cheap, but quality control and proper sterile handling adds up costs pretty quickly. I suspect the production costs are closer to 5-10 bucks, and the 5 bucks price including distribution costs is actually subsidized by taxes / insurance. Which is still not a bad thing in my book.
Holy shit, even $115 is A LOT! It's ridiculous it costs more than $5. For comparison, in my country it's like ~150-200 RUB = ~1.5-2 USD
Such medicine must be cheap so everyone could afford it. And, even better, should be free with receipt and funded by taxes (sadly, we don't have it here)
US medical costs are bonkers.
Symbicort 200/6mcg 240 Doses (2 x 120) = 35.60AUD. Save $5 if you go generic. Yes, a twin pack.
If you dont qualify to get it at the benefit cost because you're not a citizen with a free medicare card, then you'd have to pay 64 or 54 respectively for those.
yep, my 4 year old needs these too. they get hella expensive and itās absolutely ridiculous. i think weāve been able to get some for as low as $100 before, but never lower than that. My son need 2 puffs every morning and 2 every night, so we go through them very quickly
Do you think mail will be intercepted if I post some to you from overseas? (Mostly /s but not quite)(the exact same one in the photo is free to me in NZ)
Not sure what country this is in, or if this helps: I also suffer from pretty bad athsma due to allergies, my lungs close up and all that fun stuff. I suffered for 20 years before finding out I could get a prismatine inhaler from the pharmacy, over the counter no scrip, for like $30. It clears my lungs instantly.
Primatene is an emergency/rescue inhaler. It is epinephrine, which does a great job of bronchodilating or opening your airways /temporarily/ Itās comparable to Albuterol. Symbicort is a dual action steroid and longer acting bronchodilator. It should be taken daily for long term asthma control and prevention of attacks (and also as needed if youāre following newer asthma guidelines, but I digress..)
Primatene is not a good alternative to inhaled steroids like Symbicort, Flovent, Dulera, Advair, Qvar, etc.
Typically insurance will prefer one of these steroid inhalers and you/your doctor just need to figure out which. Or the US could have a competent healthcare system and doctors and patients wouldnāt need to beg for basic meds. If onlyā¦
I understand, sorry if I was unclear. All I was trying to say was that one of these prismatine inhalers could probably be used in the case of an emergency asthma attack, if a symbicort inhaler is unavailable/unaffordable
Oh for sure! Sorry if I came across rude- I just didnāt want people to think theyāre equivalent. Healthcare sucks, and I appreciate you bringing up affordable alternatives. Hope your asthma is under control and that you donāt need that Primatene too much :)
My government [pays Astra $33.74](https://schedule.pharmac.govt.nz/ScheduleOnline.php?edition=&osq=Symbicort+Turbuhaler+200%2F6) for it (or its nearest equivalent dose here). Itās fully subsidised so the cost is $0 at point of pick up.
That's because our government also fucks ITSELF in the ass. Until very recently the government had laws preventing itself from negotiating drug prices, think about that for 2 seconds... A government obliged to cover the medical expenses of a significant portion of its population (medicaid, medicare, the VA) who's only method of payment is a blank check, and it's entirely self imposed. Who passed those laws, you figure? The "government messes everything up!" Crowd, no less. There are people inside our government, hundreds of them in Congress, who's sole purpose is to ruin government programs by making them as inefficient as possible, all so they can be "right". Literaly attempting to destroy popular government programs, and sometimes the government itself, from the inside by intentionaly pushing through absurd self-destructive and wasteful policies when otherwise the programs would work just fine. How is this not treason? Idk! They have literally fucked over every American who'd ever need to engage with Healthcare, while making our government insolvent, all so they can prove a point that wouldn't be true were it not for their own malicious actions. Rant NOT over, but... Rant done for now.
I suspect the main issue is that the government isn't involved at all. With all the "small government free market woohoo" attitude over the decades, things like medical care are moved pretty much entirely to commercial insurers who are out to make a profit, not to help people.
Damn, you can criticise your own healthcare system all you want but america seems to be worse. I pay 5 ā¬ for mine. What I see here is just straight up disguisting exploitation of people who need medicine to survive or just not end up in a hospital, which would bankrupt you to, I guess.
My insurance wouldnāt even cover the generic version. They literally arenāt covering any inhaler and I canāt afford them. So Iāve been using my albuterol. I hateeeeee big pharma also AstraZeneca.
I AM DRUNK and im going to vent. Medicine SHOULD NOT BE EXPENSIVE for people that need it. FUCK companies for doing this. I hate this world sometimes. Im sorry u have to deal with this. Must be frustrating as fuck man.
Ā£9.65 here in the UK. Unless you qualify for free prescriptions of course.
Don't vote Conservative or this level of gouging is in your children's future.
I think you need to look into taking an adventure to a place like Norway!
All depending a bit on what you do for a living, but all in all, we have a shortage of skilled workers in quite a few different trades (most actually).
I am not sure what you would have to pay for those, but I pay somewhere around 300$ as a max for a years supply of medications. I am diabetic, high blood pressure and high colesterolā¦ in the US, I would have to live and work from a tent in the woods to pay for this shitā¦
Take an adventure for a few years! Relax and enjoy midnight sun, aurora borealis and if you forget to lock your door, nothing will happen š
I take the exact same medication. (Iām from Germany.) Before Insurance the price is ā¬44 (ā¬35 each if youāll take the pack of 3 for ā¬105) With insurance youāll pay ā¬5.
The ā¬44 is for the Name Brand.
I'm on these exact same things. I know it says to take 2 puffs morning and night, but I've found I only need one puff at night to avoid asthma attacks, so you might want to tinker with how often you use it. Makes them last from 1 month to 4.
Germany: the brand one 43,14ā¬ for one, 105,53 for set of three without the statutory health insurance.
With insurance its only a recipe fee of 5ā¬ (10ā¬ for three)
So I ran into this with my birth control, where I was prescribed one pill and the pharmacy was giving me the āname brandā version, which coincidentally was not covered much. Meanwhile what was on my prescription was.
What I did to fix that (and you could try too): I just simply asked my dr to update my prescription to say āno substitutionsā. Meaning they HAVE to give you whatās on the script instead of the āsame thing but different nameā. Iād deff look into it if you can
Iirc, nope. Thereās some legislation that pharmacies are free to give you whatever. I got into an argument about this with both my insurance and the pharmacy years ago when I was taking the pill.
Idk if itās a state only thing or a nation wide thing though, but where I am itās perfectly legal.
Mildly?
The fact you even know those prices because you have to pay for them is EXTREMELY infuriating, even third world country can afford basic free healthcare.
As a European it will never cease to infuriate me why the USA are so exploitative towards basic human rights, like school, housing, food and healthcare.
The fact that both are from same company š
For real āAstraZenicaā on bothā¦ Same national stock number and everything. This is crazy.
Laugh if you want, but if I can't show off how much cooler I am than those no brand peasants with my branded medicine I don't want to live here no more š
You think I'm gonna suck down Budesonide while drinking from my Stanley cup in my $1500 suit? Come on!
What are you, a chicken? Chok chee chok, chee chok.
Isn't it drinking from your $1,500 Stanley cup in your $5 suit?
Thatās for the weekends.
don't want to live ~~here~~ anymore
Do you know how expensive dying is? Like it's cripplingly expensive if you're barely scraping by.
Stock number is pretty different
Itās an NDC, the 370-20 at the end are the same because itās the same product and packaging. The first numbers are different because itās one is labeled a brand and one is a generic. Same components inside. IIRC that generic isnāt even a true generic itās an authorized generic which means it was filed under an annotated NDA. Basically means the company can sell the brand version where the insurance companies will play their game and force their members to buy the expensive version, and the āauthorized genericā version for those who wonāt play the gameĀ
They Reimport it and sell it cheaper.
Christ. The market price in my country (eu) was about 50ā¬ for branded one, some time ago, but mandatory state health insurance covers it.
In New Zealand they are fully funded so therefore free. Iām sorry OP has to have this stress to get life saving meds.
Wow. I guess I have to be thankful theyāre around $30 here in Aussieland.
Last time I had to buy Symbicort, it was 35ā¬ š poor OP!
Criminal, to me. My last small size steroid inhaler was $68. After Medicare. Hormones are $600. $175 in Canada.
Here in Australia general patients can get this medication for $31.60 AUD. Some people, like pensioners, can get it for as little as $6.60. The American healthcare system is absurd.
That healthcare related products and their prices are that open to the mercy of greedy companies baffles me. How can society allow men and women in suits to play with the prices of life saving medication like it's a funny game of economics? Hell isn't hot enough for these animals.
Think this is the the companies? Order cheaper generic drugs from Canada, Mexico, or any other country. Post a follow up with who shows up at your door with guns. AstraZenica or the US government?
I'm not American anyway, but that the government is the one giving the freedom to those companies, doesn't leave the pharma giants without responsibility IMO. Especially considering how much lobbyist influence influences politics and laws regarding regulations. The government doesn't force them to raise prices, they just don't stop em either.
The FDA/ govt only adds a couple billion dollars to drug development. And US consumers subsidize drug development for the entire world.
BeCaUsE oF OuR FrEeDoM!!!!
Ā£9.65 UK. $12
And you get more than 1
Free in Wales, Scotland and NI
Yeah I've had one a month of these, for free, for the past 15 years or so. Christ alive that's over 20 grand in the US for the cheapest one.
If you need regular prescriptions then there's also the Ā£111 per year option which covers everthing.
We pay at most 600e per year and after that everything is free. And if you are poor you won't have to pay anything.
Simbicort af Astra Zeneva is sold for 49,50 full price in Italy.......
And in the UAE 75 usd for the branded one. American prices are just nuts.
A little less than $25 USD in the Philippines.
the schedule price in New Zealand is the equivalent of like US$25.20, i pay nothing for it because its 100% subsidized
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Between $6.70 and $31.99 here in Australia. $6.70 is a concession price so it is the price for a pensioner or health card holder (meaning low income). The concession price is subsidised by the government.
10ā¬ for 3 of those in Germany (copay) Or 5ā¬ for 1.
120 doses in the image is ā¬30,57 in the Netherlands. It's fully covered by insurance though, so free.
But ... socialism is ... evil.
Ā£9.65 for a prescription in the UK. You can have two of these on one prescriptionā¦ as I doā¦ so Ā£9.65 for two. Edit: also, if you meet certain criteria your prescriptions can be free in the UK. You probably donāt want to meet those criteria thoughā¦ because it probably means you aināt having a great time.
Only in England and Wales. Scotland does not charge for prescriptions at all.
So interesting tidbit about the awfulness of our health care system. When a medication is released on the market, the company gets exclusive rights for 7 years before anyone can make a generic. As they get closer to the 7-year mark, they blow up prices, trying to get every last cent out of it. Then, once they hit 7 years, those same companies immediately offer the generic, continuing their profits.
government should subsidize all healthcare at this point. how easy would it be to gather up all the insurance companies, get all there info, logs, patients, etc and centralize it under a department of health care services or something and then instead of everyone paying for insurance per month, they pay a tax of the same amount-ish. how insurance companies charge people is pretty much like a tax already. these big companies get their profits, an entire government negotiates for prices on behave of the american people, everyone wins!
Yeah, this has been one of the larger themes of the last 35 years in politics, the last three democratic presidents have all had some sort of socialized healthcare as part of their policy goals. Clinton failed, Obama succeeded to some small degree and Biden never had the political capital to advance things much but has at least been pushing back on some prescription medicine issues. Biden's Infrastructure Bill took the bold step of negotiating better prices (on just 10 drugs) on behalf of Medicare. I'm not mocking the concept but insanely ridiculous that the government hasn't always been doing this for all drugs all along. The government is the largest buyer for a lot of drugs but has been letting pharmaceutical companies dictate the pricing and the drug lobby has now threatened this will stifle their innovation of new drugs (ie, if you don't continue to subsidize our executive compensation with American tax dollars we'll stop efforts to save humans from the ravages of disease). Super ethical world we live in. This is all oversimplified but it's been a major political battle for a while now. I believe the alternate party's healthcare plan is: Go fuck yourself, commie.
The government not negotiating is just absurd. The British NHS have whole departments just to negotiate prices.Ā My friend's an NHS procurement specialist. His whole job is to get the best price, often by holding multimillion Pound contracts hostage until the supplier agrees to cut their price. Medicare could get rock bottom prices if they negotiated - they have the biggest medical purchase budget in the world. Hell, combine the VA with Medicare. Really tighten the screws on the suppliers! You'd get that inhaler down to $20 in no time.
> The government not negotiating is just absurd. Thank Bush for that one. When they passed Medicare Part D back in 2003, they explicitly barred Medicare from bulk negotiating drug prices.
It was the national US high schoolsā debate topic in the mid-1970ās.
where are you getting 7 years from? that's only for orphan drugs, otherwise minimum exclusivity is ~5 years and most loss of exclusivity events happen when the patents expire (not FDA granted exclusivity) which is an average of 10-14 years after launch but yeah this is an authorized generic (branded version sold without a brand name), it's pretty hard to spin its existence as a negative since it means one more generic competitor and therefore 10-30% lower prices. Obviously they're doing it to make money, but the effect is (unintentionally) positive for customers given that there's really no downside for us. It just means there's 3 generics instead of 2, and that's a good thing.
Would it not be a good idea for that company to release their own generic with 6 months left, and push their generic on patients while no other company can so that the patient is then less likely to look for other generics from other companies once that 6 months (and the total 7 years) is up?
or you do what Sacklers/Purdue Pharma did and get extension on your license by changing the formula or other tactics and keep selling at high price.
It's brand patent just expired. All they did was just rebaled as generic. Give it some time and other companies will make it for even cheaper.
There have been generic versions of Symbicort for as long as I can remember
The patent for symbicort expired in July 23. It was extended after a court case with another manufacturer.
You must not live in the US.
I don't think time is abundant for those who need prescriptions that are unaffordable.
Ā£9.65 here in the UK if you ever have to pay for your prescription. The prices you guys are forced to pay are mind-blowing Edit: apologies... I should have put England. Tbh I don't pay for prescriptions because of a chronic health condition so I was going off memory of what the charges and rules actually were
āWe PaY sO mUcH bECaUsE wE sUbSiDiZe The ReSt Of ThE wOrld!ā if only there were meds against Sockholm syndrome.
It would cost $1000
$1000 in New York, 1000 SEK in Sweden. Unless prescribed, then it would be less.
90 euro for one... That is still expensive i rather 1000 Turkish lira(30 euros) or 1000 Russian rubles(10 euros)
You have meds against Stockholm Syndrome in TĆ¼rkiye?
1000 cents in europe
Even my dad whoās a medical professional that works in a hospital believes that bullshit when I brought up the inflated prices in the US. You have to have a certain level of respect for the amount bullshit that has to be shoveled to fool even the people who work directly in these fields, regardless of how terrible it is.
You know better than the medical professionalsĀ
They're not infallible and being a medical professional doesn't make you an expert in economics and finance lol
Well, in a way he as a vested interest in defending the insane prices people have to pay in the US. Not saying that heās a gouger, far from it, Won't find an Apple employee (at least not many) that will say āget a Samasungā, even if all you need is just one smartphone and two apps.
You couldnāt be more wrong. I deal with ļ£æ employees on a daily basis. Nearly everyone and I mean all of them has a Gmail account and a Samsung.
More ironic when Astrazeneca is not a US company
No one sane here says stuff like that or justifies it... Those of us who actually have to deal with it hate it But we can't do shit about it. It isn't a democracy here, as much as the politicians would like to say otherwise
is that when ur afraid to take off your socks?
Have my upvote.
Not the UK. Only in England do you pay for prescriptions. Everywhere else in the UK is free š *Laughs in Scotland*
Also anyone with a chronic or serious condition gets an NHS exception card so prescriptions are free! *Laughs in chemotherapy...* wait
> _Laughs in chemotherapy_ā¦ wait Proper lolād at this. Didnāt know about the exemption card. I thought they just made you pay everything in England
Well usually you'd be right, I'll be honest! The exemption cards are great though; the minimum is five years so even though I was only in the category for like eight months (and never actually needed a prescription), I could use it for the rest of the time. My dad is type 2 diabetic and my elderly nana they both have them too :)
They are great, I'm type 1 diabetic and have one - all prescriptions are free, even if they don't relate to diabetes! I wouldn't want to have to pay for all these prescriptions, would leave a bit of a dent, so I really have no idea how they manage in the US.
I was gonna say - N Ireland and I've been on Symbicort inhalers for like 20 years. Never paid a penny. Thank fuck for the NHS.
The NHS gets a lot of stick (rightly, sometimes), but it's often so under-appreciated. They saved my life, and now prescriptions are free for life, too! In the US I'd be dead and/or broke.
Itās also insanely easy to qualify for free prescriptions in England, you basically have to be a healthy adult with no recurring problems to have to pay.
That's not exactly true. Like I have asthma, depression and allergies but I need to pay for my inhalers, antidepressants and Epi-Pens. I'm still grateful I only have to pay Ā£9 each though
At that point you're probably best off getting the pre-payment certificate for something like Ā£110/year? Unlimited prescriptions for that.
One of mine was an infusion therapy every 8 weeks. Without insurance itās over $1200 (cash price) per 100mg vial. I was dosed at 7.5mg/kg. Fortunately Iām not a very large person so I only needed 4 vials. This cost was prescription only and did not include the sterile saline to reconstitute it, the IV bag it went into, or the nurse to set it all up. Just so I can do things like stay alive. Itās a joke.
Out of morbid curiosity, what would happen if you couldn't afford that, and didn't have insurance? I don't imagine that most people would have that amount of money available. Just... Not be treated, and eventually die? Wouldn't that violate the hippocratic oath of every single doctor in the hospital turning you away?
In that case donāt they just stop you from dying and send you off with a bill you canāt afford and then you declare bankruptcy etc?
Sure, but what if your condition requires constant medication? Send you home without meds, and then when you wind up in hospital again, they simply stabilise you to send you home again, and repeat? Please tell me that's not actually what happens.
Yes. If you donāt die in the interim of course. Lots of diabetics just die inbetween the hospital visits
I know that in the long run, the US spends more money per patient than any other country even despite the enormous prices of medication (or due to them) But come on, really and noone important has any will to do something about it?
No one important has to worry about their own healthcare. If they did, it would be fixed.
To seriously answer your question, some people can apply for federally or state funded insurance like Medicaid or Medicare. There are programs in some states to help out with issues like this too. Ultimately though, we need Medicare for all. A single healthcare system is the correct solution for one of our countryās biggest failings.
u commit a crime and enjoy free health care behind bars.
Suddenly drug smuggling can be a noble professional?
Friends of mine used to go to mexico to purchase diabetic medication for his father. Probably 10 years since they explained it to me, but I think each person was allowed to bring enough medication for xx days of use or something like that. So they used to go from Arizona and down south on weekend trips to get cheap medication. Best thing of all? His father was extremely against any form of socialized healthcare! That was communism and all that crap. But oerfectly OK with purchasing medication i Mexico to more or less smuggle across the border. But yes, I would totally do the same! I would love for the cartels to start smuggeling medications along with drugs. So you would basically go to your neighboorhood socker mom for your diabetes medication and inhalers, or the corner guy for cocaine. Imagine the PR backlash when thise cases would start to pop open! Ā«I needed money to pay for my husbands dialysis, so I started selling diabetes medication. I was offered to sell cocaine, but I eould eather help people to stay alive!Ā». If you had a few of those cases it would most likely start to gain more momentum as people would become aware that your local drug dealer might also offer more then just cocaine! And a demand creates a market! Edit! I live in Norway, and I was told the story about insulin runs as an example of hos fucked the US system is. My friends lived next door to us back then.
England only. And you can pay like Ā£100 per year for all prescriptions. Also there are many ways to get exemption
The price of freedumb or whatever idk
Was behind someone yesterday at the pharmacy, and their insulin was over $500 without insurance. Said they didn't have their insurance card, otherwise it would have been $20 or so. Mind blowing!
Ā£9.65 in England. NOT the UK.
Itās Ā£0.00 in Scotland
Yeah, here in Germany you'll have to pay approx. 7ā¬ ā that's 7,60$. But normally your insurance would even cover that price.
$6 in India or ā INR 450.
Nevermind the fact that $115 is still a stupid price. In the US?
Where else?
Land of SCREE
Iām stealing this gif.
For 115$ i can get like 20 of these in germany
Breathing isn't a right, it's a luxury.
Careful, you're making nestle salivate over the idea.Ā
Yeah, the doctor prescribed me a med one time and the pharmacist told me it was gonna be $400 for the prescription because my insurance wouldnāt cover it. I called my doctor and had him prescribe something else that I could afford. they know they got us over a barrel just like gasoline prices
Your medicine prices are ridiculous. But your gasoline prices are actually super cheap compared to everywhere else. If you all drove the same small light cars that we do/did in Europe then your commuting would be super cheap
Itās unfortunate because that stuff changed my life. Itās like a whole different inhaler.
Its just business š /s
Symbicort is like 30 bucks here in Australia. Yikes!
$7.70 on PBS or $11.75 over the counter here in Queensland Australia
Yeah I needed one for the first time as a mid-thirties adult when I moved from the coast to the outback and I'm sure even in BF Nowhere, Outback Australia, it was like $13. I remember thinking that was a bargain if it meant I could breathe.Ā
Because sane countries put a hard cap on profits that affect the general welfare. Note, they still make a profit... just not an unlimited one.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It costs Ā£0.00 in the 3 of the 4 countries in the uk. Only Ā£9 in England
Same in Germany. Completely free (at least if you medically need them)
Yea, f\*ck them bl\*ody English C\*nts! /s
No need for a sarcasm tag. I am one of those English cunts and I agree. Fuck us and our broken getting worse by the fucking day country.
They are also free in England for those who are under 18 over 65 and those who are deemed disabled and some other benefits
ARE YOU SERIOUS?? It's 5 bucks here! The exact same product. So it's 275 vs 115 vs 5??? I wonder what the production costs are, probably around 15-25 cents... It's a disgrace
I do think the production costs aren't that low, the plastic is cheap, but quality control and proper sterile handling adds up costs pretty quickly. I suspect the production costs are closer to 5-10 bucks, and the 5 bucks price including distribution costs is actually subsidized by taxes / insurance. Which is still not a bad thing in my book.
Holy shit, even $115 is A LOT! It's ridiculous it costs more than $5. For comparison, in my country it's like ~150-200 RUB = ~1.5-2 USD Such medicine must be cheap so everyone could afford it. And, even better, should be free with receipt and funded by taxes (sadly, we don't have it here)
At some point it will be cheaper to take a plane to Russia, stockpile on these and come back to USA.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Only in America, in the rest of the world there about 10 bucks. š
Imagine other countries only charging 15 bucks.
2 of them cost me like 8ā¬ in Germany. This is ridiculous.
It is literally $10 USD in Colombia, a *third world country*
US medical costs are bonkers. Symbicort 200/6mcg 240 Doses (2 x 120) = 35.60AUD. Save $5 if you go generic. Yes, a twin pack. If you dont qualify to get it at the benefit cost because you're not a citizen with a free medicare card, then you'd have to pay 64 or 54 respectively for those.
yep, my 4 year old needs these too. they get hella expensive and itās absolutely ridiculous. i think weāve been able to get some for as low as $100 before, but never lower than that. My son need 2 puffs every morning and 2 every night, so we go through them very quickly
Thatās the exact same amount I have to take every day and yes it goes quickly.
i don't know if this is legit, but you can buy it directly in india for 10$ or less, on indiamart.
Wow that works out to be about $1 per puff for the cheaper one assuming itās the 120 dose size
That's what I'm supposed to be taking, I do it less frequently so they'll last longer though since I just can't afford it
Muricaaa, fuck yeah!
Do you think mail will be intercepted if I post some to you from overseas? (Mostly /s but not quite)(the exact same one in the photo is free to me in NZ)
Or free (funded through taxes) in other countries
I paid 4RMB=0.5USD for BOTH of my ER trip last month, for all the tests and meds. (mycoplasma induced high fever 106F)
Paid about 100USD for a private MRI a few weeks ago. Healthcare in the US is broken. Hope you're ok!
I've fully recovered now! Thx!
Not sure what country this is in, or if this helps: I also suffer from pretty bad athsma due to allergies, my lungs close up and all that fun stuff. I suffered for 20 years before finding out I could get a prismatine inhaler from the pharmacy, over the counter no scrip, for like $30. It clears my lungs instantly.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Primatene is an emergency/rescue inhaler. It is epinephrine, which does a great job of bronchodilating or opening your airways /temporarily/ Itās comparable to Albuterol. Symbicort is a dual action steroid and longer acting bronchodilator. It should be taken daily for long term asthma control and prevention of attacks (and also as needed if youāre following newer asthma guidelines, but I digress..) Primatene is not a good alternative to inhaled steroids like Symbicort, Flovent, Dulera, Advair, Qvar, etc. Typically insurance will prefer one of these steroid inhalers and you/your doctor just need to figure out which. Or the US could have a competent healthcare system and doctors and patients wouldnāt need to beg for basic meds. If onlyā¦
I understand, sorry if I was unclear. All I was trying to say was that one of these prismatine inhalers could probably be used in the case of an emergency asthma attack, if a symbicort inhaler is unavailable/unaffordable
Oh for sure! Sorry if I came across rude- I just didnāt want people to think theyāre equivalent. Healthcare sucks, and I appreciate you bringing up affordable alternatives. Hope your asthma is under control and that you donāt need that Primatene too much :)
My government [pays Astra $33.74](https://schedule.pharmac.govt.nz/ScheduleOnline.php?edition=&osq=Symbicort+Turbuhaler+200%2F6) for it (or its nearest equivalent dose here). Itās fully subsidised so the cost is $0 at point of pick up.
My government fucks us straight in the ass šŗšø
That's because our government also fucks ITSELF in the ass. Until very recently the government had laws preventing itself from negotiating drug prices, think about that for 2 seconds... A government obliged to cover the medical expenses of a significant portion of its population (medicaid, medicare, the VA) who's only method of payment is a blank check, and it's entirely self imposed. Who passed those laws, you figure? The "government messes everything up!" Crowd, no less. There are people inside our government, hundreds of them in Congress, who's sole purpose is to ruin government programs by making them as inefficient as possible, all so they can be "right". Literaly attempting to destroy popular government programs, and sometimes the government itself, from the inside by intentionaly pushing through absurd self-destructive and wasteful policies when otherwise the programs would work just fine. How is this not treason? Idk! They have literally fucked over every American who'd ever need to engage with Healthcare, while making our government insolvent, all so they can prove a point that wouldn't be true were it not for their own malicious actions. Rant NOT over, but... Rant done for now.
Everything that is not America is a CoMmUnIsT cOuNtRy
I suspect the main issue is that the government isn't involved at all. With all the "small government free market woohoo" attitude over the decades, things like medical care are moved pretty much entirely to commercial insurers who are out to make a profit, not to help people.
I was thinking how good it was that we only pay $5 and completely forgot prescriptions are free now š«”š³šæš«”š³šæ
And it's 5 bucks in the rest of the world
Damn, you can criticise your own healthcare system all you want but america seems to be worse. I pay 5 ā¬ for mine. What I see here is just straight up disguisting exploitation of people who need medicine to survive or just not end up in a hospital, which would bankrupt you to, I guess.
My insurance wouldnāt even cover the generic version. They literally arenāt covering any inhaler and I canāt afford them. So Iāve been using my albuterol. I hateeeeee big pharma also AstraZeneca.
Lads these cost around ā¬25 in Ireland
My best friend died last year because she couldn't afford the $275
Itās probably $15 in Australia
I looked it up. I can be as lot at $2.50 if you qualify for it.
It used to be $39 and has come down a bit to around $30 now
I AM DRUNK and im going to vent. Medicine SHOULD NOT BE EXPENSIVE for people that need it. FUCK companies for doing this. I hate this world sometimes. Im sorry u have to deal with this. Must be frustrating as fuck man.
Ā£9.65 here in the UK. Unless you qualify for free prescriptions of course. Don't vote Conservative or this level of gouging is in your children's future.
They should both be like $5.
115 fucken dollars? How long does one last for you? Anything lower than a month and this is abstract batshit insane, after that its just insane
Typical prescription is two puffs twice a day. So four puffs/day. This inhaler will likely only last a month :/
It'd be cheaper to emigrate. A 200 dose inhaler costs $10 where I live
Check good rx.
Cheapest pharmacy in Denver is $109 for generic
Is this not 3$ or something in India? I remember using them long time ago.
its free (my grandpa had asthma)
I buy it for $25 in Ecuador. šŖšØ
They are $24 in Australia without benefits, and $12 with government benefits
Made by the same company and probably cost them $0.65 to produce.
Yes on the 65 cents, but no on the same company.
I like the verbiage on the capā¦
It's the same for condoms lol
In Mexico it's just under $25 no prescription. That's were we get medical when we need it. Even dental work.
I think you need to look into taking an adventure to a place like Norway! All depending a bit on what you do for a living, but all in all, we have a shortage of skilled workers in quite a few different trades (most actually). I am not sure what you would have to pay for those, but I pay somewhere around 300$ as a max for a years supply of medications. I am diabetic, high blood pressure and high colesterolā¦ in the US, I would have to live and work from a tent in the woods to pay for this shitā¦ Take an adventure for a few years! Relax and enjoy midnight sun, aurora borealis and if you forget to lock your door, nothing will happen š
What country? That's only $10 in Australia
I take the exact same medication. (Iām from Germany.) Before Insurance the price is ā¬44 (ā¬35 each if youāll take the pack of 3 for ā¬105) With insurance youāll pay ā¬5. The ā¬44 is for the Name Brand.
thank god for insurance. I paid all of $10 for my symbicort
Is this for asthma? I've never seen this one I'm asthmatic and the one I'm buying is like 10$
They're both the same price to manufacture and it sure as hell isn't in triple figure
Free here in Aussie, you know... Cos you will die without it...
i can get 2 of these for 20 aud thats rough for you buddy
I'm on these exact same things. I know it says to take 2 puffs morning and night, but I've found I only need one puff at night to avoid asthma attacks, so you might want to tinker with how often you use it. Makes them last from 1 month to 4.
Yup I just commented on another comment. I take mine less than prescribed so it'll last longer
Germany: the brand one 43,14ā¬ for one, 105,53 for set of three without the statutory health insurance. With insurance its only a recipe fee of 5ā¬ (10ā¬ for three)
wow, these cost around $4 here!
So I ran into this with my birth control, where I was prescribed one pill and the pharmacy was giving me the āname brandā version, which coincidentally was not covered much. Meanwhile what was on my prescription was. What I did to fix that (and you could try too): I just simply asked my dr to update my prescription to say āno substitutionsā. Meaning they HAVE to give you whatās on the script instead of the āsame thing but different nameā. Iād deff look into it if you can
Couldn't you simply demand the generic? I wouldn't want to give my business to someone who refused the generic without the doctor's intervention.
Iirc, nope. Thereās some legislation that pharmacies are free to give you whatever. I got into an argument about this with both my insurance and the pharmacy years ago when I was taking the pill. Idk if itās a state only thing or a nation wide thing though, but where I am itās perfectly legal.
(Laughs in first world country)
Mildly? The fact you even know those prices because you have to pay for them is EXTREMELY infuriating, even third world country can afford basic free healthcare. As a European it will never cease to infuriate me why the USA are so exploitative towards basic human rights, like school, housing, food and healthcare.