My wife Jackie has severe asthma. Thanks to the ridiculous state of health care in the United States, I was recently forced to commit a crime in order to get her the medicine she needs to live.Jackie has to use a maintenance inhaler twice per day, every single day, and will continue to use it for the rest of her life. Even with that maintenance inhaler, she sometimes still needs to use a different rescue inhaler to make it through the night when her asthma symptoms can be more pronounced. Without using these two types of medicine every day she could have an asthma attack, be hospitalized, or die.Given that a person with severe asthma could literally die without these inhalers, you would expect insurance companies to price them low enough for anyone to afford. It would be pretty unethical, or at the very least irresponsible, to charge a premium for them.Right?Wrong.Many common medicines that people need (such as those prescribed for ADHD, anxiety, depression and many, many other things) are made very affordable, according to an insurer's drug tier list. Asthma inhalers, however, are not.Continue reading on MOTHERBOARD.
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