I’ve Paid $1 Million to Stay Alive

Attitudes are like flat tires; you can’t go anywhere until you fix them. Life is all about attitude, especially when you are blessed with a chronic disease like type 1 diabetes.

However, as #Typeoneguy4life it frustrates and angers the hell out of me that I have now spent over $1 million dollars to-date to stay alive. That’s right over $1M.

The mental challenge and care is an old hat to me. It’s a disease that requires constant monitoring and control, and it never sleeps. However, the financial burden is the largest challenge. And the costs associated with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are mind-boggling.

Today, there are 29 million diagnosed cases of some type of diabetes in the USA. A speculated 79 million people in the world are living with undiagnosed diabetes or pre-diabetes. If that doesn’t get your attention, the cost that comes with the silent killer will.

While the American Cancer Society estimates the costs of all cancers annually at approximately $201 billion, diabetes is even more outrageous with a staggering $245 billion annual impact. And these astronomical healthcare costs will only continue to skyrocket due to untreated diabetes.

Sadly, not only do I have to battle to stay alive, I have to continuously battle with the big insurance companies. At times it seems like the insurance industry would rather all type 1s barely survive, rather than thrive. I have been forced to pay for a massive eye surgery expense that was considered a “pre-existing condition” and wasn’t covered by the insurance company.

My business spent over $26,000.00 last year alone, so I could stay alive. Not including dental or vision coverage, just healthcare premiums, co-pays, deductibles and hidden deductibles. With these insane costs you would think everything is covered without question.

Wrong. I just spent the last 60 days arguing about obtaining my blood glucose test strips. As typical, I went to obtain my prescription for test strips and the pharmacy informed me, “Sorry sir, your healthcare provider will no longer provide your test strips as they do not have a contract with your healthcare company. You can only have this brand.” Well, my blood glucose meter and my pump communicate together so changing test strips and meter is not an option, I argued.

“Sorry, sir, there is nothing we can do to help you.” Blood pressure elevated, I call my doctor and she has to play letter ping-pong with the insurance company to reiterate the fact that I must have these test strips to stay alive. 60 days later, my doctor and I win. However, this comes with great stress, frustration and in my opinion shouldn’t even be open for argument.

So there you have it. Welcome to my world. Everything is a battle and a hassle when it shouldn’t be for the amount one must pay to stay alive.

Now maybe you can understand my frustration and anger. Diabetes kills more annually than AIDS and breast cancer combined. By the numbers there are 231,404 diabetic deaths annually, versus 40,000 annually from breast cancer and 15,000 from AIDS.

We must change this! I assure you that I am not the only frustrated type 1 person out there that struggles with the healthcare insurance debacle and the financial burden. As an ambassador for Beyond Type 1 we are on a mission to change this.

Want to contribute to Beyond Type 1’s Global Access Fund to improve help get care and supplies to people with type 1 diabetes? Learn more here.