Hi Melody,

Oh, I know what you mean. When I am in the gap, "the donut hole", I pay $199 for 5 pens of one of my insulin meds and $172 for 5 pens of the other insulin.

The first month of the year, one pack of 5 pens costs me $341 during the deductible period.

I also get the "if you have drug coverage" you don't qualify for any discounts. And isn't it the law in the US to have drug coverage or be fined?

I believe that according to Medicare, you MUST enroll in Part D, or have drug coverage under an Advantage Plan or you are fined.

If the costs on insulin are going up, this is BAD news. The amounts I quoted are what I paid out of MY pocket during 2015 AFTER insurance picked up their portion.

A pen only lasts me about 5 or 6 days. When I need more insulin, the pen runs out even faster. As you have mentioned in prior posts, using the pen, you waste 2 units each time you inject to prime the needle. I inject 4 times a day so I am wasting 8 units per day and that adds up. That doesn't take into consideration when the pen only has a small amount remaining and your dose for ONE treatment gets split into two pens. Then you are wasting 4 units for ONE treatment, 2 units to prime the needle for the pen that is inadequate for the full dosage and then 2 more units to prime the needle for the new pen to complete the dosage.

I have compared the prices of using vials and syringes instead of the pens and there is not much difference and the convenience of the pen is nice, especially with my failing eyesight.

If you can call it good news, I am on so many meds that I hit Stage 4 "catastrophic level" early and then my insulin cost really drops. That also means I hit the GAP, Stage 3, even earlier, and pay a fortune during that stage.

If I find out any way WE can get a discount or save money somehow, I will surely post it.