Plum Health Featured on Fox 2 News Detroit for Lowering the Cost of Insulin

Plum Health Featured on Fox 2 News Detroit for Lowering the Cost of Insulin

Yesterday, Plum Health DPC was featured on Fox 2 News Detroit for lowering the cost of insulin in Detroit and beyond.

MANAGING DIABETES IN DETROIT

Diabetes care can be difficult and expensive, especially if you’re uninsured. If you’re uninsured and trying to access diabetes care, patients can face the following costs:

• $150 for a primary care visit

• $150 to check hemoglobin a1c

• $150 to check blood sugar via a comprehensive metabolic panel

• $300 for insulin at the pharmacy

• $10 for Metformin (Glucophage) at the pharmacy

At our Plum Health office, we dramatically lower the cost of these vital services to help our diabetic patients manage their blood sugar.

• $55 to $75 monthly for as many primary care visits as it takes to manage your diabetes

• $6 to check hemoglobin a1c

• $6 to check blood sugar via a comprehensive metabolic panel

• $0 for insulin at our Plum Health clinic as we get several free samples from industry

• $0.30 to $0.60 for Metformin (Glucophage) at our Plum Health clinic

What makes this pricing difference even more important is that folks with diabetes need to check their hemoglobin a1c every 3 to 6 months to ensure that they are managing their diabetes effectively.

Dr. Paul Thomas of Plum Health DPC being interviewed by Fox 2 News about the high cost of insulin in Detroit and beyond. People routinely pay $125 for 1 pen of long-acting insulin like Tresiba. At our Plum Health DPC office, we are able to get free samples so that the cost is $0 for our members at Plum Health. Our mission is to make health care affordable and accessible, and lowering the cost of insulin is just one way that we achieve that mission.

Here’s our social media post about Insulin Costs in Detroit:

These insulin pens are $125 a piece at your local pharmacy. 🤑 💰

They should be capped at $35 a piece, but that protection was removed by Congress this week. 🤯😭🤢🤮

Fortunately, we get free samples from industry to help our patients at Plum Health DPC ✅

Tune in to Fox 2 News at 6 pm with Veronica Meadows as we talk about what’s broken in our healthcare system and what we’re doing to fix it 💯

#PlumHealth #DirectPrimaryCare #FamilyMedicine #insulin #drugprices #healthcare

Here’s what Fox 2 News Detroit wrote on their webpage about the story:

FOX 2 - For those who have diabetes, many know the struggle of paying for insulin.

"This can be $125 per pen at the pharmacy," said Dr. Paul Thomas. "In the United States there’s seven million people who need to take insulin and 25 percent of those cannot afford the insulin, they need to manage their diabetes."

For Raphael Wright, that stress hits close to home. A Detroit entrepreneur — Wright says at first he didn't have health insurance. He says his out-of-pocket cost for insulin used to be around $300 a month.

"It was a punch in the gut, I did not feel good," he said. "I am on the fringe because now I'm worried about getting my lights cut out. You need electricity to keep insulin cold."

Senator Debbie Stabenow (D) says starting in January the inflation reduction act will help more than three million in the US afford insulin.

"If you receive your health care through Medicare your insulin medicine will be capped your cost at $35 a month," she said.

But Senate Republicans stripped a provision that would have capped the price of insulin in the private marketplace. That cap also doesn't apply to people who don't have insurance.

"I think we should have a $35 cap for all Americans because there are a lot of people who are uninsured - they make too much money to qualify for Medicaid and not enough money to buy private insurance," said Dr. Thomas. "And even if you have private insurance your deductible could be $7,000."

Thomas is the founder of Plum Health Direct Primary Care in Corktown. He says thanks to free samples, his patients don't pay for insulin.

Thomas says his mission is to make healthcare accessible to everyone — especially diabetes patients. He says the results are devastating for those who are priced out of insulin.

"They’re going without, because of that high cost, and essentially this leads to really bad outcomes: Diabetic retinopathy which can cause blindness, diabetes does damage to your blood vessels, which can lead to early heart attacks and strokes," he said.

Thomas says diabetes is the number one cause of amputations and blindness in the United States. He says that is one more reason why insulin needs to be affordable for everyone.