As a Newsom hater, I have to admit this is a big win for everyone. While he’s still very far from an actual solution to the country’s root problems - you can vote for him (if that’s an option), and then continue protesting and pushing for more reforms. I’m not quite as optimistic to believe this will happen, let alone succeed, but it’s an idea.
Newsom can be shamed into doing the right thing. Trump/Vance/Miller will disappear the shamers. Completely different realities.
The most transphobic version of Newsom is a return to needing several doctors to write a letter saying you are trans. We’re already seeing Trump denying the right to exist and forcing the next generation of trans kids into navigating black markets for T shots or forced to grow with the wrong hormones.
navigating black markets for T shots or forced to grow with the wrong hormones.
california has been looking for a low cost insulin for a few years, i think they were moving towards this for a while. the resistance is coming from the trioply that owns the other formulations of insulin.
Quick reminder that insulin was invented when Hitler was still a struggling art student.
Invented by a Canadian who sold the patent to a Canadian public university for a (Canadian) dollar, because he recognized that this should not be commercialized.
Insulin is available for pennies almost everywhere in the world because of this decision, but not in the USA
the original version, but elly lily, novo nordisk, and sanofi made the other variations which was more effective and potent(depending on the person), they just prevented any other person from making a cheap or generic version through lawsuits originally.
Holy shit, I can’t believe this is real
What took them so long?
Go away.
because the 3 companies that made the different variations were fighting tooth and nails for anything similar to even being developed for years and years.
The democratic and republican parties working together to make sure Americans dont get good things. Its hilarious that morons think the Dems are the good guys, and that if only it wasnt for all those damn repukes, they could have free healthcare. Meanwhile, the dems have been working hard to make sure that Bernie didnt win the nom in 2016, thus making sure that Americans didnt get free healthcare. Then again in 2020, when all the people up for the nom(all of which had a free healthcare plan) were told to do one, because Biden was the only one who could beat Trump. The fact he was also the only one up for the nom that didnt have a free healthcare plan is just a coincidence… And then again, in 2024, they gave Harris the nod after she dropped her free healthcare plan that she had back in 2020. But she was talking about… thats right, cheaper insulin… Funny that, huh?
When you take away all the trans stuff and the immigration stuff and the gun stuff, you are left with two right wing parties that agree more than they disagree, and both are run by corrupt public officials in their 80s and backed by self interested donors.
I have no idea what the solution is, but it sure as fuck aint the dems anymore than it is the repukes.
“Myeeeeh I have to find something to complain about this objectively good thing that is occuring”
For comparison…
In Aus I’m paying ~$32 for 25 pens
We have it decent in Australia, but for the Americans reading on, the bar is so ridiculously low you can walk over it.
I hope one day Medicare can actually be universal, and not the private subsidy model we have currently.
I dunno about you, but finding bulk billing is a pain the arse now, and in certain areas it simply doesn’t exist. Not to mention my premium mouth bones which aren’t covered for some stupid reason.
I just wish we’d finally kill off private health. Private health is such a scam we only take out because we have a two tiered system and there’s a tax discount.
I really don’t like Australians talking about how good we have it, when it’s kinda meh, and actively getting worse.
That all being said, yeah, the PBS is pretty good and I’m glad insulin is affordable.
Thank Christ we didn’t get the Libs back (for American readers, that’s the conservative party), we could do SO much better given how wealthy we are per person.
But, anyone who doesn’t want to pay more in tax in order to get truly public healthcare doesn’t know how to do maths. We could just pay what we pay in private health premiums already, in tax, and we’d probably get way better care per person (because profit is inherently inefficient).
Abolish private health.
Thanks for being accosted with my rant.
100% agree. Dental should be covered.
I don’t mind private health existing but it should only exist without all the bs policy to force you into it and without leeching off public funding through tax breaks and Medicare funding.
Bulk billing fortunately doesn’t impact me because I see a team at hospital outpatients for almost everything.
Fortunately PBS brings one of my speciality meds down to affordability from a few hundo K per year.
My big gripe at the moment is ndss funding for CGM sensors is non-existent if you aren’t type 1. So it’s ~100 per fortnight if you want good glucose monitoring but have some non type 1 need for them.
Oh damn, that must suck (regarding the glucose monitoring)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I do have one extra Response:
I don’t mind private health existing but it should only exist without all the bs policy to force you into it and without leeching off public funding through tax breaks and Medicare funding.
The problem is that the private health model in our country only works with tax breaks and Medicare funding.
If we made them ACTUALLY compete with Medicare (i.e., if you have private health cover, you’re no longer eligible for Medicare), the business model would collapse.
I for one, propose this as a method for killing it off.
By making them compete, hehe
I stopped going to the dentist, it is simply way beyond what my budget can handle. That sucks.
I must be preaching to the choir, but remember this when they don’t tax large corps, or propose another tax cut for workers (you and me).
We don’t need tax cuts, we need to stop wasting money on subsidising the already wealthy so we can afford to finally abolish private health for good!
(Dentists don’t like the sound of this, because they won’t be able to charge whatever they like anymore. But tough, my mouth bones aren’t a luxury)
After almost 20 years of big L Liberals in Aus, we should just consider ourselves lucky we still have Medicare. I want dental too, but I also want them to repair the basic model first
Our of curiosity, what does this look like in your view?
Do you mean the basic model? If so, it means everybody has access to free medical. Although, in order to include dental earlier, it would need to be restricted at first on need.
Yeah I was curious as to what reforms you would propose. We already have a system that purports to have universal medical care, but it’s only true in limited ways. There are many avenues to free medical care, but it’s still a for-profit system under the hood (for non-hospital care, which includes seeing specialists).
There are government run parts of the system, like emergency hospital which runs very well, but outside those, the gap fees are getting larger, and the “elective” surgery system where people on the public queue wait months for life altering surgery is an embarrassment.
I’m proposing we end the subsidy model, make all health care publically provided, not just some, everyone goes through the same system, not two tiers for those who can afford it. This is the only way there is extremely strong incentive for everyone to want healthcare to be extremely good.
Although, in order to include dental earlier, it would need to be restricted at first on need.
Why though? I’m guessing hospital care is vastly more expensive than getting a check up at the dentist. The peak body of dentists rail against dental into Medicare because it’ll dampen their profits. Preventative dental is cheaper than emergency dental.
We should pay medical employees actually doing the work more, and give practice owners nothing.
The “free market” is a stupid way to run an essential service. Thank god ours at least is regulated decently (but, not enough)
People need to look at the last 40-50 years and realise privatisation has not worked, it’s time to roll back the clock on government ownership and running of essential service.
We have a say over the government’s decisions, not private companies (outside regulation and legislation). Why are people so allergic to government ownership (it’s propaganda, if we’re being honest)
Profit motive needs to be taken out of healthcare and elder care yesterday.
Sure, universal health would be great, but, we are a very conservative country, the best we can hope for in reality is a subsidy model that doesn’t subsidise private. We need to unwind the changes of the past 2 decades while also expanding it.
Profit itself isn’t the issue imo, profit above all is. We have to get back to making people the priority, not profits.
US user here: I REALLY appreciate the context. I hear surprisingly little about the Australian side of this kind of thing. Thank you!
No worries mate. All the best in improving your country’s situation!
the bar is so ridiculously low you can walk over it.
the bar is at the bottom of the marianas trench.
Thanks for being accosted with my rant.
No need for that. I feel informed by this. Thank you.
Thanks for this haha, I do often feel like I’m just projecting “things are bad” into the world. Appreciate you saying this.
I also hate private health, and in fact, cop the additional medicare levy on the chin because id rather pay 2-5k in tax that funds medicare, than get some junk private health cover. The problem with bulk billing is it’s so dependent on location. I have great GPs that can get an appointment within a day or two. More rurally you’re waiting 6-8 weeks and paying $90 a pop. Despite their being flaws in Australia you can still at least get emergency life saving care that won’t bankrupt your family. I’m not as well versed but there’s also the safety net for medications which I believe stops the horrendous out of pocket expense across a year
Yep, safety net changes slightly each year but it’s usually based on the cost of a certain number of scripts.
This year it’s $1,694.00 for general patients and $277.20 for concession card holders.
When you hit it as a concession holder the cost becomes 0 and as general you get the concession card price for the rest of the year.
This will be the first year of my adult life where I won’t hit it which feels pretty amazing. One new drug lets me drop multiple existing ones and not get sick as often.
This will be the first year of my adult life where I won’t hit it which feels pretty amazing.
Heck yeah!
I have a relative that needs about 1800 a month for their Insulin. They’re disabled but if they applied for disability they wouldn’t be poor enough to qualify for public assistance and the disability payments wouldn’t be enough to cover the price of insulin so they’re forced to live in poverty until they old enough to retire.
That’s like covering rent for two extra people. That’s insane.
In Portugal - which has a National Health Service - I’m getting 5 pens for €0 with a doctor’s prescription (and there are mechanisms for just getting new prescriptions regularly or on request without needing to go for a doctor’s appointment every time), as would anybody else that needs it, by the way, as it’s not means tested.
That said, without said prescription it would be about €70 for 5 pens.
Also the local politicians are slowly but surely destroying the National Health Service in order to privatise Healthcare bit by bit.
Yeah that’s what we’re doing in Australia too, our Medicare system used to be great free doctors everywhere etc.
Now they’re fewer and far between and private health companies got a boost from the government since the government said if you don’t have private health you will pay more in tax
God bless Governor Newsom.
Wouldn’t be surprised if California is the first to secede when the fourth reich really begins to hit.
Can’t wait for the border checks for “illegal” insulin
We can’t afford this, Argentina needs $40 billion so their leader can get a haircut that doesn’t make him look like the manager of a rock band in the 70s.
How dare you. Lord Citrone made several big investments reliant on the Argentina economy.
The bailout would deliver a major windfall to Rob Citrone, a billionaire hedge fund manager with significant investments in Argentina.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/12/economy/argentina-america-bailout-currency
The real question, this administration doesn’t do shit for free. What are they getting for their 40B?
I heard today that there is some billionaire who has invested in Argentina, and was about to lose his shirt. Trump’s bailout makes him a rich guy again. It looks Trump got bribed to steer tax money to save this guy’s personal investment.
its bessenets friends who need a bailout.
Billionaires Bunker
$11
As it should be
No it’s not, all necessary healthcare should be free at the point of use. As should be basic housing and food.
To me it sounds insane that you have to pay for insulin, which you must have in order to survive. If anything, I would think that $11 per pen is still at or above the cost price for the manufacturer, insulin is dirt cheap to make once you have the production line.
All that said, this is of course a step in the right direction. I won’t be surprised if there’s a wave of media attacks on him a month from now, all suspiciously linked to some shady ad firm with ties to big pharma.
Insulin is free where I am (not US). Never paid for insulin. I am using 6 pens per month.
I’m curious about the formula. My wife has jumped around a few different insulin companies and while they all had the same active ingredients, the inactive ingredients played a major part in her absorption.
I’m sure it won’t be a fit for everyone’s daily use, but at the very least it should stop people from rationing their doses.
type 2 can afford to ration thiers if they need insulin, but less likely for type 1, since they are insulin deficient and they need to have a constant supply, or they get KETOACIDOSIS.
when i was visiting the r/ diabetes, yea there are different kinds of insulin from the 3 companies. theres seems to be delayed released, or immediate release, or another that works later than normal gradually to help regulate it more easily. is your wife type 1? i know type 1 uses CGM(sensors and the device) the and insulin pumps to moniter thier insulin levels, also super expensive. this is how the companies like elly lily, sanofi, and Novo nordisk can GOUGE people, because they have trioply for insulin for a long time.
This is interesting
It’s interesting. It’s really interesting that you would say that. Just interesting.
Imagine having to pay for healthcare
*European man (women have to pay, because, well, patriarchy and stuff)NO! NO! NO! THIS IS SOCIALISM OR COMMUNISM! WHATEVER THIS IS! THIS IS BAAAD SO SO SO SO BAD! EVERYONE AROUND ME TOLD ME SO! SOCIAL MEDIA APPS INFLUENCERS TOLD ME SO THIS IS BAD! THIS IS AWFUL! NOOOO I DON’T WANT IT
Great, now do glp1
CA is 175 years old as a US state.
1 socialized prescription drug per 175 years with over 19,000 prescription drugs regulated by the FDA.
We will have socialized prescription drugs in 3,325,000 years in n CA. 175/1 = 3,325,000/19,000
This is now perfectly organized for the people that believe in centrist liberal baby steps.
It will get blocked and won’t happen, calling it now
Finally a thing gets done at a local level, because people wanted it to happen.
Now move to the south and influence the local elections.
Don’t unilaterally condemn yourself to Christian misery just to be gerrymandered.
The Free State Project got what they wanted by coordinating first, then all moving. They didn’t coordinate on bears afterwards but the first part of the plan was solid.
gerrymandered
America is really fucking weird. Truly a democracy to emulate. The entire practice of gerrymandering is so foreign to me that I don’t understand how it can even be enforced.
You should move to the South! It’ll make more sense then.
I’m steering clear of anything usa, thanks.
