Why my insulin will have to change

Express Scripts stops covering key Big Pharma drugs on clinical, cost-effectiveness grounds

Specifically, they stopped carrying Novo Nordisk's NovoLog FlexPen, which I inject before each meal. I did check, and there is a version of Humalog (which is on the accepted formulary for 2014) that has a pen version, called Humalog KwikPen. I'll ask my endocrinologist about it when I see her on Halloween.

So it's time to sign up for benefits for 2014 and I've been to my seminar on changes for the coming year. My insurance is changing to a co-insurance model, something that I've never had before with United Healthcare. There is a deductible of $150, a maximum of $1500 out-of-pocket expenses (for the individual plan), and medicines are 20% of their total value. I checked with my pharmacy and it looks like I will pay over $500 a month for my meds for the first three months of the year, after which I'll hit my max and they will be covered at 100%. I don't have an extra $500 a month for that, but I do have a flexible spending account, which takes pre-tax money out of each pay cheque but the elected funds are available to draw via a card on January 1st--so that will save me. Actually, I think I'll pay less out-of-pocket with this model than with my co-pays as they are now, which is a relief. Also, the pricing per pay cheque for the health insurance went down a bit for those of us who don't smoke and who agree to fill out an online health assessment (which I've already done). So that's good. There were lots of rumours and fears, I think, and of course smokers are not happy. But it took a couple of days to really sink in and understand the new plans. I think I'll be okay. And for those who grumble about the Affordable Care Act (also known as 'Obamacare') spurring the changes (and I know there are several doing that), granted, there were liable to be repercussions, but since I probably won't have any health insurance in 2015 through my job, unless I find a new position (as the library and I are not going to the new building once it's built and they move), I for one am happy there are alternatives out there for people with pre-existing conditions like diabetes to buy health insurance and get help paying for it. (Although the best of all possible outcomes would be finding a job before that comes to pass that includes health insurance benefits.)