New government act to limit the cost of insulin for people on Medicare starting in January

byMark Richardson
Illinois News Connection

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CHICAGO -- Last month was National Diabetes Awareness Month. With almost 1.3 million Illinoisans diagnosed with the disease, people with diabetes make up 10% of the population, and another 3.4 million people have prediabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Dr. Nicole Brady, chief medical officer for employer and individual business at UnitedHealthcare, said the rising cost of insulin is putting many patients in a bind.

"Many of them may even have to make decisions such as, 'Am I gonna buy food for my family this week or am I gonna spend money on my insulin?' So it puts them in a very precarious position," Brady observed.

A study published last month in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed one in five adults with diabetes is rationing insulin to save money, a practice which can damage his or her eyes, kidneys, blood vessels and heart.

The Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act, which passed this summer, caps the cost of insulin for people on Medicare at $35 a month starting in January. It also caps Medicare recipients' out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs at $2,000 a year, and allows Medicare to negotiate the cost of some drugs.

Brady added starting Jan. 1, UnitedHealthcare will offer zero-dollar cost sharing for people enrolled in standard fully insured group plans, which would eliminate out-of-pocket costs for certain prescription medications, including preferred brands of insulin.

"This should reduce the risk of expensive hospitalizations and of complications from the high blood sugars that can be an effect of diabetes," Brady emphasized. "And overall should make people just feel better."

In the meantime, Brady has some tips on improving your quality of life while on an insulin regimen. She advised reducing sugary processed foods, limiting alcohol and avoiding tobacco.

"Smoking and tobacco actually decrease the effectiveness of insulin," Brady pointed out. "We can better manage our stress because stress can raise our blood-sugar levels."

She added regular exercise can improve your blood-sugar levels because working out causes your muscles to use more glucose for energy.

Photo of the Day | December 15, 2022

Grin and win it

Jasmine McCullough goes up for a shot between Danville's Cheyenne Walls and Diamond Landfair with a huge smile after beating the two defenders during Urbana's home basketball game last Thursday. The Tigers (2-4) picked up their second win of the season after rolling past the Vikings, 40-25. McCullough, who went 2-for-4 from the free throw line and is currently the third-best 3-point shooter in the Big 12, finished the night with six points for UHS. The team's next home game will be on January 7 against Centennial, who the Tigers play tonight in Champaign.

Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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The Wright stuff for the Hawks, Oakwood hoops star signs with Quincy University

With family, teammates and friends taking in the moment, Oakwood basketball player Addie Wright signs her National Letter of Intent to continue her basketball career with the Hawks of Quincy University.

Photo provided

Oakwood -- Addie Wright signed her NLI on Monday to continue athletic career at Quincy University. The 6-foot-0 post player for Oakwood is averaging 10 points per game in the first ten contests of her final prep season. She finished the 2021-22 season with an average of 14 points and nine rebounds per game.

The daughter of Greg and Staci Wright, Addie plans to study biology or psychology.

"Addie is a hard worker with a strong presence around the rim. We are excited to add her steady and tough skillset to our program," said second-year head coach Kaci Bailey.

Wright's 3.2 steals per game and blocking ability have bouyed the Oakwood progam with a 5-5 record this season. She has scored 107 points and collected 99 rebounds with a little more than two months left in the season.

The future 2023 grad and 2022 VVC First Team member plays summer ball with the Indiana Elite Havoc, an AAU club team. She also ran cross country in the fall the Comets.

Wright and the Comets host Hoopeston Area tomorrow evening and then play two consecutive road games starting with St.Thomas More followed by a trip to nearby Westville.

Expert says certain risk factors increase your chance of blood clots

by Shelli Dankoff
OSF Healthcare

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Peoria -- In November, Today Show weatherman Al Roker was hospitalized after a blood clot that formed in his leg sent clots to his lungs. After being discharged on Thanksgiving he was readmitted almost immediately because he started showing more symptoms.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), blood clots are a serious and growing health issue affecting an estimated 900,000 Americans each year resulting in nearly 100,000 deaths.

Big swollen leg with discomfort, the discoloration is not normal

Blood clots are a normal response to an injury where a blood vessel gets broken. If it doesn’t clot, you will continuously bleed causing a hemorrhage. The problem is when blood clots occur for the wrong reasons such as a piece of plaque breaking off in the artery to the heart which can cause a heart attack.

According to Mark Meeker, D.O., an internal medicine physician and vice president of community medicine at OSF HealthCare, another example is in the legs. He says blood usually flows relatively rapidly through our body but if something changes that flow, that’s when you could have a problem.

"If you think about if you mix cocoa and milk, and you stir it, it all dissolves. If you just dump it in there, it clumps up. So if our blood isn't flowing, it can tend to clump or clot. So if I have surgery, for example, and I'm laid up in bed, and I'm not moving, and the blood flow in the veins of my legs really slows down and starts to pool I can get a blood clot that shouldn't be there. It's blood that stays there. I might be okay, but if a blood clot breaks off and goes to my heart or lungs that's called a pulmonary embolus. That's very serious and can be life threatening."

Dr. Meeker says the signs to watch out for that you might have a problem depends on where the clot is located and what it’s affecting. In an artery, that is the high pressure system that delivers oxygen from the lungs, through the heart and out to your body. Dr. Meeker recalls a patient of his who developed pain in her leg but no swelling, the leg became pale looking and cold to the touch. The arterial clot prevented the leg from getting oxygen and the leg ended up having to be amputated because the arteries clotted off.

The other side is the low pressure venous system bringing the blood back to the heart and lungs to be re-oxygenated and recirculated. On the venous side, a clot can cause a backup not unlike clogging the drain to a sink. This will cause blood to build up in your leg and the leg to swell, maybe change color, and potentially cause a pain in the calf if the swelling starts to increase pressure inside the muscle. If the clot then breaks off and goes to your heart and lungs, as in Al Roker’s case, you could have chest pain, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations.

"Big swollen leg with discomfort, the discoloration is not normal. If you have one leg swollen and not the other and you've either had recent surgery or a recent illness, or you are sitting for a long period of time, usually. Either you really got into a movie marathon or you're on a plane to Hawaii or something like that, or a long car ride. Some people get in the car and they drive for hours. They don't take a break to go for a small walk. All those are risk factors for those venous clots."

Dr. Meeker says there are risk factors that increase your chances of developing blood clots like smoking or taking birth control bills. But he adds blood clots don’t care, under the right circumstances they will happen to anybody

"If you have a family history of stroke or heart attack, you want to be checked out by your primary care team to see if you have genetic risk factors for heart attack or stroke because you have them in your family. And if you do there are specific things that can be done depending on what that risk profile looks like. From a general standpoint from the venous clots side, maintain a healthy weight, stay hydrated, and don't get dehydrated. Don't sit for unusually prolonged periods of time. You want to be up and moving around because movement is what gets the circulation that veins in the legs need to stay active and not clot."

Learn more about the signs and symptoms of blood clots and remember to reach out to your primary care provider if you are experiencing any of them, or visit your nearest emergency department if necessary.