My name is Kara Campuzano and I am a resident of Salem, Oregon. I have spent my life in various different roles: student, career woman, and even USOA Mrs. Oregon 2020. But my most important role has been as a mother and a carer.
My son Brody was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 5 years old. He’s now 10. We were on the Oregon Health Plan at the time, so we didn’t have to worry too much about the cost. However, as my spouse and I began to see greater success in our career, we also began to earn more money, meaning we no longer qualified for the public health plan. That is when our costs for Type 1 diabetes care really started to go up.
Thankfully, our son’s Humalog is $35 per month on our private corporate insurance. However, that is only if it’s on prescription and not if we need an emergency dose.
One day, I received a phone call saying my son left his Humalog insulin at school. It was almost 5:00 pm and the school was closed.
I immediately panicked. Brody needs his insulin, so I called our local pharmacy to try to get the dose we needed to get through the evening. I was shocked to find out that it would cost more than $300 for me to go to pick up the emergency dose. I immediately started worrying about how I would pay for it. Would I need to pay on a credit card, or get the insulin at an ER?
No mother should have to worry about paying for their child’s necessary medication. There should be better options in place for families like mine. Insulin has been around for too long to be priced that high.
I am lucky to have a relatively small co-pay, but I know that there are countless others who struggle to pay even a $35 copay. And I know I’m not the only one who would struggle to shell out more than $300 for an emergency dose. Oregonians deserve better.