My name is Sue Lee and I’m a 77-year-old resident of Crestwood, Kentucky. I worked in health insurance for years before I retired and I endured years of painful plaque psoriasis while I was in the workforce.
When I was prescribed Humira, I quickly discovered that it was a “miracle drug” in treating my symptoms. It helped me treat the painful sores on my body that had plagued me for years.
However, I have been forced to stop taking Humira after learning the treatment would cost me over $8,000 a year out-of-pocket. I don’t have too large of a savings account and I live off of the fixed income provided to me by Social Security. I can’t afford to pay for Humira under any circumstances. When I was employed and under employer insurance, my copay was only $5. But with retirement and Medicare came the new, insurmountable price tag.
It just isn’t fair. I do the best I can to maintain my health. I live healthy and try to maintain an active lifestyle. I worked well past retirement and saved as much as I could. Even that couldn’t save me from these extremely high drug prices. These prices are devastating patients all around the country. If Medicare had the ability to negotiate for their beneficiaries, maybe I would be able to afford Humira. I want Medicare to be able to negotiate down the prices of necessary, life-saving drugs to help patients like me.