HOUSTON – People with diabetes need insulin to survive, and rising costs make buying the hormone a costly proposition for some people, but Walmart has a low-cost option.
Walmart sells Novolin ReliOn Insulin 70/30 for $24.88 per bottle -- without insurance.
Insulin regulates a person's glucose level and keeps the body’s blood sugar levels in check. People with diabetes, both type 1 and type 2, require insulin.
While delivery isn't available for the product, pickup is available via the Walmart pharmacy.
As KSAT.com reported, there are issues associated with this option: It's available without a prescription, which could lead a patient to incorrectly dose themselves with potentially deadly results.
"Doctors and diabetes advocates point out that while ReliOn may help patients in a pinch, especially those without health insurance, it’s also a formulation (known as 'human' insulin) that came on the market in the 1980s, more than a decade before more refined insulins started to emerge," reported Vox.com.
The cost of insulin nearly doubled from 2012 to 2016 and has continued to increase every year, according to the Health Care Cost Institute, an organization funded by health insurance companies seeking to uncover the reasons behind rising costs in health care.