Humira – The $6,000 Monthly Cost To Live Pain Free

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder affecting many joints including those in the hands and feet. RA is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease where your body mistakenly attacks healthy cells, which is what causes the pain and swelling. Over a long period of time, RA can cause bone erosion and disformed joints. This is a treatable disease with medicine; however, people with RA are quickly finding that it’s very expensive to keep their pain under control, as many insurance companies are not paying for the Humira, which is a non-generic brand of medicine. Because of this, insurance companies are not paying for Humira, and instead will make you pay the $6,000 premium that it costs to treat RA monthly. Instead, insurance companies are generally wanting to pay for the generic treatments which take longer to come out, so in the mean time, people suffering from RA find themselves spending $72,000 a year to live pain free.

According to the US Census Bureau, in 2019, the median income in the United States was roughly $31,500, which is less than half of the cost of Humira’s yearly cost. But, this isn’t America’s first issue with medicines being too expensive. This is also found in insulin. It’s really expensive to buy insulin, but not as expensive as treating RA. According to the Austin American Statesman, it can cost patients between $780 and $1,170 on insulin every month for people with Type 1 Diabetes. For people with Type 2 Diabetes, “patients can require even more insulin per month, sometimes requiring six or more vials…” and continued on to state, “This would add up to $2,341 or more every month.”

It’s no surprise that America has a fairly unaffordable healthcare system, and without insurance, that cost becomes even more unaffordable. Ideally, we see a world where people can get what they need to survive, and not break the bank.