For Bridgett Snelten, changing her health insurance meant enduring wild blood sugar swings, bouts of vomiting and weight gain.
The Sandy, Utah mother of two young girls has diabetes and has had to change health insurance plans three years in a row. Twice, new insurers wouldn’t cover Trulicity, a once-a-week injected diabetes medicine she’d been taking that helped control her blood sugar tightly. Instead, they made her return to an inexpensive, twice-a-day injected diabetes drug she and her doctor knew didn’t work for her.
Each time, blood sugar plunges caused the shakes, vomiting and other symptoms until her doctor finally persuaded the new insurer to approve Trulicity, which retails for more than $700 per month.
In this July 11, 2018, photo, Bridgett Snelten sits with her daughter Bella at their home in Sandy, Utah. Snelten has diabetes and has had to change health insurance plans three years in a row. Twice, new insurers wouldn’t cover Trulicity, a once-a-week injected diabetes medicine she’d been taking that helped control her blood sugar tightly. Instead, they made her return to an inexpensive, twice-a-day injected diabetes drug she and her doctor knew didn’t work for her. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)“It was almost a whole year of hell just trying to get on the right medication” the last time, recalls Snelten, 43. “Who are they to say more than my doctor what’s right for me?”
More and more, patients like Snelten are being caught up in efforts to rein in the cost of health care – efforts employers and patients desperately want to succeed. But the strategies also can restrict access to the newest, most expensive drugs even for those who need them.