Unjust and rapid prescription drug costs continue to put significant financial strain on Illinois residents. My husband and I often struggle to access our critical medications due to these extremely fluctuating prescription drug costs. I have been taking medication for my chronic autoimmune disorder, myasthenia gravis, since I was 13 years old, and I have seen firsthand how frequently the prices of my critical, life-altering medications can change. It is a gut-wrenching issue to have to deal with.
My husband, Jonathon, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, has to battle through fatigue to access the medication he needs to make it day to day. Ongoing medication shortages lead to his restricted medication being unavailable very often — so he has to find another prescription drug, with his doctor, which is often sold at exorbitant prices. Sometimes, because of the changing costs, our insurance changes which brands or manufacturers they choose to cover — which is perilous to those who cannot afford to pay more than $400 every 30 days. So some of us have to wait a week or more to access an affordable brand. These last-minute changes even confuse insurance representatives themselves.
The varying cost of our medications over the years has often left my husband and me with a sense of dread and exhaustion not knowing where the money will come from.
For many others, health care affordability is often the No. 1 issue in their minds. About 28% of Illinois residents have rationed their medication by either skipping a dose or cutting a pill in half to lengthen their supply, according to a Consumer Healthcare Experience State Survey. Even if you aren’t currently on medication, chances are that you’re still feeling the negative effects of rising drug costs. At least 20% of health insurance premiums are attributed to high-cost drugs. That means that, as prescription drug costs continue to climb, insurers will keep raising their premiums to accommodate for this price gouging that is illegal in other countries.
The medical world is full of breakthroughs and treatments that can provide a critical lifeline to patients — but the fact is that prescription drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them. Access to necessary, and sometimes life-saving, medications should not be contingent on a person’s pay grade.
I am calling on my neighbors and legislators to support the creation of a Prescription Drug Affordability Board to rein in prices and bring critical financial relief to those who need it most.
— Iliana Haven, Chicago
Step therapy puts patients at risk
On paper, step therapy or “fail first” policies can seem like a good idea to keep medical costs down (“Ill. targets insurance stipulation,” April 25). However, many patients who face sight-threatening disease simply don’t have the luxury of time to try ineffective treatments that will almost certainly increase costs later. Specifically for eye diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma and those related to diabetes, the sooner a person begins the correct treatment, the greater the chance to significantly slow the progression of vison loss and even blindness.
In so many cases like these, once vision loss occurs, it cannot be reversed, making time of critical essence in treating conditions before vision loss gets worse.
In addition, step therapy and prior authorization for any health condition may put the patient at risk of treatment delays, additional doctor visits and use of the insurance preapproval process (which comes with added administrative cost). These unfortunate results could potentially be avoided if the patient has access to treatment prescribed by a qualified provider in the beginning!
Controlling health care costs is obviously an extremely important issue and one that we all must work together on. However, the patient-doctor relationship should be given a great deal of deference. Only by working as a team with their doctors can patients have the best chance for successful treatment.
We thank state Rep. Anna Moeller, D-Elgin, Gov. J.B. Pritzker and medical professionals everywhere who are committed to putting patients before profits. We hope that these efforts can continue to improve the health and wellness of those in our own state of Illinois, as well as be a model of success across the country.
— Jeff Todd, President and CEO, Prevent Blindness, Chicago
Writer doesn’t understand my faith
In his April 24 letter (“Members of the human tribe”), Bill Porter claims that “if I were to decide tomorrow to change my religious practices to those of Judaism, then that would make me a Jew.” His presumed ease of conversion is his rationale for why we should all think of ourselves as part of the “human tribe” instead of members of a nation or a religion.
However, Porter could no more become a Jew by declaring himself so than by eating a corned beef sandwich. To claim otherwise is an insult to my faith.
Judaism is not a religion that takes conversion lightly. In fact, it is the only major religion to prohibit proselytizing. In order to convert to Orthodox Judaism — the only denomination officially recognized in Israel — a potential Jew must voluntarily seek to study under the supervision of an Orthodox rabbi in a rigorous program that lasts from 10 months (in Israel) up to three to four years (in the United States, the United Kingdom and France). Some countries’ rabbinates, such as in Belgium, Ireland and Spain, will not accept converts at all. It is not a question of insularity or elitism, base characteristics of which Jews have been accused for millennia, but of spiritual motivation and sincerity of purpose.
— MaryAnne Spinner, Chicago
Why outdoor dining on Clark matters
On April 19, the Tribune published the letter “Closing Clark Street is a bad idea,” which argues that Chicago should end the popular summer program of closing portions of Clark Street for outdoor dining. Writer Ed Bachrach thinks that closing Clark Street will inconvenience drivers and that this inconvenience will harm downtown’s economy and culture.
This is an argument a small number of Chicago drivers make, often and loudly.
Bachrach gets things exactly backward. The best way to improve downtown isn’t to make it convenient to drive through; it’s to make downtown desirable to get to (by vehicle, the CTA, biking, etc.).
Vibrant downtowns make it pleasant to spend time, have meals, walk around, see a play and otherwise enjoy being in a world-class city. Places that prioritize leaving as quickly as possible after work are not working toward a stronger city. Strong downtowns prioritize people spending time with people; ghost downtowns prioritize the convenience of those who’d rather be somewhere else.
Chicago, like most American cities, has prioritized cars and driver convenience at the expense of everything and everyone else. This is obvious everywhere you look: in the deteriorating state of the CTA, the chopping up of our most prominent park (Grant Park) with highways and the collective shrug our leaders give to the car crashes and fatalities on our streets every year.
Thankfully, there is large and growing support for more people-focused spaces. More than 3,200 people have already signed a petition calling for dining on Clark to be restored. Bachrach calls these people “special interests,” but that’s absurd and rude. You don’t need to be part of a “special interest” to want to enjoy the summer weather at a Chicago restaurant without inhaling exhaust smoke or shouting over car horns.
Chicago has a small and shrinking number of social spaces where people can enjoy each other’s company outside, without being feet away from loud, polluting and dangerous car traffic. Not only should Chicago restore the dining-on-Clark program, but it also should expand it to other parts of the city.
I’d be happy to invite Bachrach for a beer outdoors on Clark this summer; I bet he’d enjoy it a lot more than saving a few seconds on his commute.
— Peter Snyder, Chicago
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