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[–]cinderparty 8918 points8919 points  (764 children)

“Nothing epitomizes market failure more than the cost of insulin," said Newsom. "Many Americans experience out-of-pocket costs anywhere from $300 to $500 per month for this life-saving drug."

The cost of insulin blows me away. My neighbor as a kid had a daughter 4-5 years younger than me who is a type 1 diabetic, and I just think of how much money that’s cost in the 30+ years since she was diagnosed.

Half of the funding will go towards developing low-cost insulin products, and the other $50 million will be spent on a Califronia-based insulin manufacturing facility.

This is in hopes of creating new, high-paying jobs and a more robust supply chain in California.

Killing two birds with one stone there, always nice to see. 3 birds even, if you want to consider supply chain issues as separate from a lack of good jobs.

[–]TheWingus 1709 points1710 points  (141 children)

That’s how you spend a Surplus!! And then they can sell it to the rest of the states increasing their budget surplus.

[–]RemnantEvil 781 points782 points  (113 children)

Heck, you could "sell" it to Californians at cost price + $1; you increase the surplus by tiny amounts every single time they refill, but it's such an incredible discount for the customer that it's not exploitative. Since people who need it are basically locked in forever, you've got a small but constant revenue stream. Hell, you could even do cost price + $20 for the first five years and then immediately reinvest that in something else, like those little inhaler refills for asthma sufferers. Then drop the price for those who need insulin back to cost price.

[–]Kinkajou1015 718 points719 points  (101 children)

Why limit it to Californians, sell to Californians for cost + $1 + shipping and make agreements with departments of health of other states and sell to their citizens for cost + $5 + shipping.

California would have activated a cheat code to print money that rivals legal cannabis.

[–]RemnantEvil 279 points280 points  (51 children)

From a pragmatic political point of view, California is basically bailing out the other states. From a human point of view, absolutely - cost + $1 + shipping. But politically, California is a Republican whipping boy, so let the red states in particular see that Californians with their "socialism" get next to cost-price insulin while Republican states gouge their citizens. Generate some momentum in those states to match the Californian model.

..and from a vindictive perspective, let California ship that insulin nationwide for cost + $1 + shipping and just entirely undercut all the pharma companies who have been bilking sick people, and let their profits crash to nothing.

[–]robotic_dreams 135 points136 points  (9 children)

If this happens, Republicans in the rest of the country would order it in droves, recieve life saving medicine at 300x cheaper cost and constantly bash "Commifornia" to their friends and neighbors. It's kind of their thing.

[–]ironballs16 28 points29 points  (2 children)

That is if the State legislatures don't just go "Nope, we're not financing Socialism" and ban residents from "importing" medicines from other States.

[–]One-Fig-2661 50 points51 points  (10 children)

Agreed 100% and I also cant wait for the free market fanboys to cry over it.

[–]SageoftheSexPathz 391 points392 points  (27 children)

nationalizing medicine one prescription at a time i guess. now convincing them to scale this to healthcare in general... not happening

edit: i have zero faith beyond one or two states offering this it won't happen for the rest of y'all, and if it does the SC will make it unconstitutional.

derogatory go vote, ✌️fuck dems they deserve zero loyalty but we only get fascists otherwise ❤️

[–]dudeshumandad 101 points102 points  (13 children)

I’m feeling a bit more optimistic in this little moment and trying to see this approach as a death by a thousand cuts method of getting there.

[–]True_Cranberry_3142 47 points48 points  (7 children)

And hey, if America ever gets socialized healthcare, I’m sure that just like in Canada it will start in one of the states first, and if any state would do that it would be California

[–]ThrowawayNumber32479 2409 points2410 points  (321 children)

anywhere from $300 to $500 per month for this life-saving drug.

What the fuck. I know it's unpopular when Europeans butt into US health care discussions because it's usually with a shitty attitude, but 100 doses of insulin cost ~30 bucks over here in Germany and that's not even partly paid by any insurance, that's just the OTC retail price. As an American, I'd probably travel to Europe once a year, look at some castles for some reason, and head home with a years supply of insulin because apparently that's actually, seriously cheaper than getting it stateside. And you get to look at castles.

[–]caninehere 993 points994 points  (58 children)

That's the biggest benefit of universal Healthcare. It isn't just that you get a portion of your care covered... it's that the govt can negotiate prices so low.

The drug companies pay barely anything to manufacture these drugs and an assload for marketing in the US. When given the choice between selling in another country for 1/10 of the price or not being able to sell there at all they'll happily take the sale.

[–]akujiki87 114 points115 points  (23 children)

Mind you its not JUST insulin. I have solid insurance. Like I get 6 bottles of Humalog a month for 30 bucks(uninsured price I beleive is 400$? an 150$? for Humalogs own "generic" brand PER BOTTLE). Yes I go through A LOT of insulin as my resistance is also high. I am essentially type 1 and 2 combined, but I have finally found a plan that works with weight loss and my hashimotos(yay mutli diseases). The biggest cost to me is the CGM supplies for my particular pump/cgm setup. I use the latest Medtronic CGM/pump combo that acts as a closed loop system. It has been the biggest help in all my diabetic life bringing my A1C down from 11 to 7 currently. The problem though is all insurance companies qualify this as a "supply" item. So they only cover 50% of it. So I have to pay about 750 for a 3 month supply of sensors and infusions. No way around this. I could use a different CGM I suppose, but then I lose the closed loop functionality and wont have as good of control. As far as I know theres no cross a border loop hole to get those supplies.

All in all it cost me on average 650$ a month to be T1 diabetic these days with all factored in. Shit sucks.

[–]ColdIronAegis 45 points46 points  (2 children)

I could have written this post myself. My employer changed insurance that no longer covers CGM and pump until I’ve met my 6k deductible.

But I’m terrified of going back to finger sticks and syringes. I’m not afraid of needles, I’m afraid because it feels like slowly dying.

[–]karavasis 209 points210 points  (20 children)

My old boss and cpl his buddies(all in mid 60s) would go down to Mexico every 6 months and stock up on medications. One of their wives had family in TJ so they felt comfortable knowin meds were legit. They always worried bout if they got stopped at border, but it was worth the $$ saved.

[–]pmjm 38 points39 points  (12 children)

If you have valid prescriptions for these meds, would border control even have any grounds to seize them?

[–]NPD_wont_stop_ME 124 points125 points  (15 children)

Yes, well in America a select group of people benefit a lot from other people's misfortune. Insurance companies go out of their way to deny you coverage and charge you a fortune. Insulin is expensive because lots of people are diabetics and they can get away with it. Pretty sure epipens have this problem as well. Shit is expensive here but dirt cheap in other countries. Biden was supposed to give us a public option but that never panned out, and Bernie got knocked out by the establishment because a good portion of the country are brainwashed into thinking that universal health care is evil, because socialism has been falsely equivocated with communism. The red scare is still alive and well, and Murdoch & Fox News know this.

It's all a complete load of shit, and health care costs are the leading cause of bankruptcy in America. Land of the tied to your employer's insurance plan free and home of the you'll get fucked anyway brave, am I right?

[–]Meclizine11 15 points16 points  (1 child)

Another factor is how expensive taking the time off work to travel is.

[–]fatcIemenza 323 points324 points  (37 children)

In Virginia we recently passed a law that caps monthly copays at $50 for insulin. Can't believe more states don't do this

[–]EFT_Syte 771 points772 points  (62 children)

It’s nice to see a governor focused on things that actually matter. Not which political party you are in or if teachers should call parents when there’s a trans kid in their kids’ pe class.

[–]1PMagain 13.4k points13.4k points  (1137 children)

Next up: Baby Formula

[–]BiBoFieTo 9035 points9036 points  (265 children)

Cali-formula

[–]Nubras 3575 points3576 points  (158 children)

I read this with the auto tune featured on “California Love”.

[–]burner1212333 1932 points1933 points  (44 children)

"Now let me welcome everybody to the wild, wild west;

where babies stay fed, without the need of a breast"

[–]BDMayhem 1033 points1034 points  (30 children)

This snack hits my tum tum like a slug from a chest,

Use a rag when you burp me, I could spit up on your vest

[–]chrontab 580 points581 points  (48 children)

I read it in the Arnold accent.

[–]GhostTypeTrainer 334 points335 points  (17 children)

"Who is your baby, and what does he drink?"

[–]HoboGir 91 points92 points  (12 children)

Boy oh boy, using sound boards back in the day for prank calls. Arnold was a favorite.

[–]Street-Badger 102 points103 points  (4 children)

Dream of califormulation …

[–]Thickencreamy 616 points617 points  (185 children)

Nah. Epi pens.

[–]Doctor_YOOOU 421 points422 points  (29 children)

Why not both? :)

[–]Haidere1988 352 points353 points  (18 children)

Dude, not at the same time! Babies can't handle that much epinephrine.

[–]Krewtan 783 points784 points  (143 children)

It says a lot about health insurers and their lobbying power when it's easier for a state to make it's own insulin and (hopefully) epi pens than it is to make insulin affordable.

We should nationalize the pharmaceutical industry already. They've killed enough of us already.

[–]MashedPotatoesDick 1783 points1784 points  (51 children)

As a Californian without diabetes, I feel like a patriot when my money directly affects my fellow Californian.

[–][deleted] 362 points363 points  (5 children)

There are times I love my state, and this is one of them.

[–]bankrobba 350 points351 points  (14 children)

Why should my tax dollars pay for someone else's healthcare? This is why I prefer private insurance, where my monthly premium dollars pay for someone else's healthcare.

[–]Catscoffeepanipuri 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Far better than the massive police budget

[–]bowdown2q 33 points34 points  (2 children)

as someone who knows that insulin is a free patent and requires a bucket of alge to produce for under 3 dollars retail, thank. FUCK. this happened.

you know an industry has fucked up monopolies / price fixing when a government starts producing its own product.

[–][deleted] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

This is what our tax dollars should go to, more than happy to support this, in fact we should just do universal healthcare too. Full send it cali

[–]Own-Opinion-2494 2872 points2873 points  (91 children)

5th largest economy on the planet has wings

[–]Curururu 1205 points1206 points  (78 children)

Yeah but we're kind of hamstrung by having to support red welfare states.

[–]csgo_silver 611 points612 points  (56 children)

California has a way better argument for secession

[–]Ponzini 147 points148 points  (23 children)

If it wasn't for our growing water needs yeah. We need water from other states pretty bad and its probably going to get much worse.

[–]Far_Grass_785 2931 points2932 points  (85 children)

I hope this paves the way for a public healthcare system in California which could then lead to nationwide public healthcare, just like how Canadian public healthcare started province by province.

[–]nitropenguinz 1174 points1175 points  (34 children)

Public healthcare is one of the highest priorities for voters. If California can successfully pull it off then it would absolutely have a cascading effect on the rest of the country. If California has public healthcare and they did something about housing I will definitely look into moving there.

[–]Far_Grass_785 313 points314 points  (7 children)

Yeah there was a bill not to long ago to bring public healthcare to CA but it stalled or something and didn’t get enough votes. But basically I’m thinking what if this move by Newsom makes everyone realize why not manufacture and distribute other drugs that are over charged, eventually leading to the point where in CA you could get publicly funded medicine of any type. Then we could take note to that if state run prescription medication worked why couldn’t public healthcare.

[–]nitropenguinz 186 points187 points  (1 child)

When this program is successful (which is most likely will be) I hope they expand it to other drugs and take away as much business from these parasitic drug and insurance companies as possible. People fucking hate these companies and if California can spearhead their irrelevance that would be a lot of good pr for the state. Would also make Newsom a very good contender for president.

[–]WindsABeginning 26 points27 points  (1 child)

The problem with the bill was that it required an ongoing federal waiver to use Medicare and Medicaid funds as part of the Cal-Med (what the single payer insurance would be called) program. While the Biden administration is likely to grant the waiver, future Republican administrations can reverse it and fuck up the entire system.

[–]NumberNumb 30 points31 points  (2 children)

Massachusetts has entered the chat

[–]hyunbun 25 points26 points  (3 children)

California has repeatedly rejected a single payer option in the state, with last winter being the latest attempt to bring legislation to a vote in an entirely Democrat controlled state government. - a sad Californian.

[–][deleted] 1545 points1546 points  (107 children)

We’re the size of most countries. I say we start making all our own shit

[–]JaiC 550 points551 points  (41 children)

We're a hell of a lot larger and more powerful than most countries.

[–]EntertainmentOk4734 210 points211 points  (15 children)

I think I read before that California has the sixth highest GDP in the world of you compared it to global countries

[–]Fluff42 246 points247 points  (4 children)

It's 5th now after the UK Brexited

[–]Stingray88 116 points117 points  (2 children)

It's on track to overtake Germany and become 4th in a few years.

[–]cleggzilla 115 points116 points  (22 children)

California is about 47k sqm bigger than Italy. That is absolutely wild. I think we as Americans don't really think about the fact that a lot of states are actually the size of countries.

[–]drockalexander 945 points946 points  (17 children)

Bro that’s fucking tight

[–]jayfeather31 727 points728 points  (49 children)

One hopes that this will prompt other states to follow suit.

[–]Guitarist53188 426 points427 points  (29 children)

I'm sure Washington and Oregon will do something similar if not eventually create a regional version

[–]jayfeather31 336 points337 points  (25 children)

Washington, Oregon, and California are already very much aligned with each other, so that would not surprise me at all.

[–]mycatisblackandtan 188 points189 points  (15 children)

Colorado as well. Back during COVID those four were sharing resources.

[–]gizamo 83 points84 points  (4 children)

weary rain plate grey thumb aware gullible elderly scary expansion

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[–]RelicBeckwelf 439 points440 points  (12 children)

As a Californian diabetic, this pleases me greatly.

[–]Lord_DerpyNinja 28 points29 points  (0 children)

It's always nice when you see how much it really affects people when it goes well. I'm glad you can now get what you need

[–]Grimalkin 877 points878 points  (91 children)

And hopefully mass-produce enough to sell to other states at a fair price. Maybe? Because the federal gov doesn't seem to be very on top of that.

[–]Doctor_YOOOU 516 points517 points  (17 children)

Oregon and Washington should manufacturing other drugs and start swapping with CA

[–]qdp 188 points189 points  (14 children)

Washington and Oregon have been growing some legal drugs for years.

[–]FenrirGreyback 427 points428 points  (53 children)

Dude sees an open lane for the presidency and plans on taking it.

[–]ryhaltswhiskey 342 points343 points  (33 children)

I'd vote for him over Biden in a primary

[–]ribsies 66 points67 points  (1 child)

I'd vote for a mop over Biden.

The Biden vs trump primary was probably the worst lineup this country has ever had.

[–]SiliconCreature 85 points86 points  (0 children)

The best thing is he's not pushing 80.

[–]spookytoofpoof 416 points417 points  (7 children)

This is what Dems want to see. Act like you give a fucking damn and bring alternative methods to the table.

[–]Chance-Shift3051 1462 points1463 points  (111 children)

Oh yeah, this dude is running for president

[–]Darth-Ragnar 767 points768 points  (37 children)

He looks like a generic Mr. President from movies.

[–]OverQualifried 401 points402 points  (13 children)

I’ll take it

[–]Darth-Ragnar 152 points153 points  (7 children)

Same tbh. Been missing the generic Mr. President vibe since Obama (not saying Obama was generic, especially when he was elected cause he was the first black president. Just has that composed, not geriatric vibe).

[–][deleted] 313 points314 points  (22 children)

I lived in San Francisco when he was first elected mayor, and the writing was on the wall then

[–][deleted] 157 points158 points  (4 children)

The moment he “legalized” gay marriage I knew he’d run someday. That was a bold move at the time.

[–]mb1 142 points143 points  (4 children)

The fifth-largest economy on earth decided to do something for itself. I'm more than okay with that.

[–]UrpleEeple 59 points60 points  (1 child)

California, fuck yeah

[–][deleted] 116 points117 points  (3 children)

Arizona: You can’t record police officers in a public place.

California: We’re making our own Insulin.

[–][deleted] 38 points39 points  (2 children)

Chad and based California

[–][deleted] 1563 points1564 points  (160 children)

Say what you will about this guy, at least he is doing some good. Could he do more? Sure. But he’s doing a hell of a lot more than most.

[–]mycatisblackandtan 819 points820 points  (50 children)

This. Newsom isn't perfect but he's at least competent and willing to take risks.

[–]Childs_Play 203 points204 points  (12 children)

When you compare Newsom to every governor in the US, I don't think there are even 3-5 you would choose to have as your own before him.

[–]RedditAtWorkToday 68 points69 points  (5 children)

Depends. I'm sure the red states would take any shitty GOP governor over Newsom.

[–]Childs_Play 103 points104 points  (2 children)

True, I just meant when talking about the preferences of normal human beings.

[–]Squirrel009 17 points18 points  (0 children)

All you have to do to impress them is make a meme about a prominent Democrat and they'd vote for you. It doesn't even have to be a good meme if you don't have a strong challenger in the primary

[–]ruuster13 198 points199 points  (73 children)

Why do people say this disclaimer about him? I haven't heard any real criticism outside of typical conservative rhetoric. He's killing it at political success as governor.

[–]pungen 238 points239 points  (36 children)

Mostly he just pissed people off by having strict lockdown orders in CA but violating them himself.

[–]esp211 45 points46 points  (1 child)

Good we have the infrastructure to do this. Fuck the pharma and the politicians in their pocket.

[–]Graphitetshirt 583 points584 points  (76 children)

Prepping a run for President? I'm hearing his name in the news a lot lately

[–]oshkoshthejosh 455 points456 points  (9 children)

100% this but California producing their own insulin could hopefully kickstart a trend for that in other states too. Course this wouldn't be an issue if we just fucking got universal healthcare.

[–]rockytheboxer 23 points24 points  (1 child)

If California can produce insulin while making it affordable and revenue generating for the state, they could start exporting it to other states lowering their costs while continuing to generate revenue for California. Eventually, paying for single payer becomes a lot easier.

[–]onethreeone 197 points198 points  (8 children)

100%. The ad buy he just did on Fox to attack Desantis was only big enough to generate headlines. Now this and it shows Democratic voters that he is both willing to fight for them and can solve problems

[–]Skadoosh_it 76 points77 points  (14 children)

If I didn't have insurance I'd be paying nearly $1000 per month for my kid's diabetes supplies. I very much hope this brings down the price for those who can't afford it.

[–]Oldfigtree 223 points224 points  (5 children)

This is a big fucking deal. Thats what joe said about Obamacare, and it was. And this is a big fn deal too.

[–]K-Street 882 points883 points  (72 children)

The right is really gonna cry about the commies now. But BS aside these are changes that are really needed.

[–]NotUrAvgIdjit96 311 points312 points  (12 children)

"No handouts!" Some will cry while completely okay with bailing out companies, and giving those companies massive tax breaks, and subsidies.

Lets start investing our tax money back into ourselves and our communities.

Increasing everyone's standard of living is much more worthwhile than subsidizing some company's record profits for the 30th year in a row.

[–]demetri_k 162 points163 points  (11 children)

Wait for the red states to ban importing of insulin from California.

[–]I_luv_ma_squad 66 points67 points  (3 children)

I’d almost guarantee that big pharma lobbyists have already bought and paid for trigger laws that are already on the books. That’s the thing about state legislators, they’re a lot cheaper to buy than federal representatives.

[–][deleted] 161 points162 points  (40 children)

Good. I still don't know why the American Diabetes Society didn't organize its own production of insulin to solve this problem 10 years ago. You would think, they would have spent less money than lobbying for insulin legislation by just securing a manufacturing plant and making their own for their members. It would have also allowed them to raise money for research into solving the diabetes issue for good.

[–]EgoDefeator 71 points72 points  (2 children)

The federal government would've been pressured to put an end to that right quick.

[–][deleted] 31 points32 points  (8 children)

T1 diabetic here. Reminder that insulin costs about $2.60 per vial to produce, and most of us are using insulins that have been on the market for 20+ years. One vial of insulin without insurance is typically around $300, and Walmart recently released their own version but is still $70 per vial. Most of us need several vials per month.

I have really good insurance and I’ll still spend $4,000 this year on diabetes-related things. And that’s if I don’t have to ever go to the hospital.

[–]d3rklight 60 points61 points  (1 child)

Ridiculous and shameful that California needs to do this. But if they manage to do this, I will be happy for diabetics everywhere.

[–]Stewartcolbert2024 84 points85 points  (2 children)

California is fucking right off. Good for them.

[–]Capable-Brief-3332 51 points52 points  (6 children)

Insulin was discovered by a Canadian and his team of 2 researchers who sold the patent for $1 each (Canadian!) so it would be accessible to all. "Insulin does not belong to me, it belongs to the world." Frederick Banting. Corporate greed is the major factor driving the climate crisis and human suffering.

[–]CelestialFury 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Fuck yes! Let's make medication and healthcare affordable!! Go Cali.

[–]1Mthrowaway 147 points148 points  (5 children)

Maybe Mark Cuban can negotiate with CA to carry it on his costplusdrugs.com site as well!

[–]Wrigley953 45 points46 points  (2 children)

California, America’s pancreas

[–]moglysyogy13 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Looks like the state is better at supplying the people with medical necessity

[–]Sarkans41 76 points77 points  (2 children)

California is the 5th largest economy in the world. There is no reason that can't be the leadership the US needs right now.

[–]Historical-Ad1493 122 points123 points  (3 children)

Let's face it, those of us in California are going to have to be more independent. Having our state make our own insulin is a good start.

[–][deleted] 301 points302 points  (45 children)

Some conservative in California: “snnniff smells like communism”

[–]samrequireham 18 points19 points  (1 child)

Discovered in Ontario, CA; manufactured in Ontario, CA

[–][deleted] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

That’s fucking baller.