So, what do we think of the medical situation? Should we start measuring him for a coffin?
trigger activated
Missing missing reasons, except for insurance/pharmacy instead of interpersonal relationships. Everything skipped over or handwaved is something that would make Jake look bad, or make people not pity him, or make people not want to give him $5.
Mounjaro could be what they gave him for "pre-diabetes" but IIRC Medicaid only covers GLP-1s for Type II diabetes,
not obesity/pre-diabetes. Maybe that's why he was cut off? Given that, unsure how he'd get one month filled though, unless they gave him a sample or he had a coupon.
If he's now
legally diabetic per Medicaid criteria, he should ask his doctor('s office) to appeal the Mounjaro denial and attach his labs that prove it.
Metformin is on the $4 list, try harder, Jake.
"80-150" as CBG goals sounds like he
did read the "So You Have DMII" handout--unironic good job, please talk to Lou Gagliardi. One single CBG reported as 300 doesn't mean much; more data plz. Maybe half of glucometers these days have an upload function so you can plot them in a (proprietary, shitty) app.
"Daily insulin shots" means one of the 24-hour peakless insulins, Lantus (glargine), Levemir (detemir), Tresiba (degludec). AFAIK none of these are generic yet, but they have
robust patient assistance programs. If Jake has a valid prescription and no visible means of support but Patreon, all he has to do is fill out forms, print out a card and his brand-name insulin will be $35/month.
Theory and Speculation: Remember how Jake says he can't get paid for some of his writing because he refuses to press "send" on an email without someone next to him for moral support (although he can xeet and tumbl about it just fine)? I think that's mostly real, and that's what's happening with his diabetes care.
Jake is in the same boat as thousands of other low-income diabetics, except he has no risk of working some extra shifts and getting booted off assistance. He has access to the Internet and a phone, he has time on his hands. He can comprehend complex RPG systems and play multiple new-to-him video games in a day; he can learn. He's just... not.
A reasonable course of actions here would be to check with his insurance
why his meds are no longer covered. He could be martyring himself for "lol the doctor needs to hit renew."
If it's because insurance needs specific documentation, maybe proving his labs say he's diabetic now,
send a patient portal message asking the doctor to send it. (or call the office on the phone but you know, Jake).
If that's not the problem, message doctor and say "hey my insurance won't cover <med> can you change it to something they do cover," also ask the doctor to refer to a diabetes educator, who will also be abreast of the financial options.
Jake's killing himself at a glacial pace, but I don't think he's quite conscious of his decision yet. Something will have to change external to him to change this.
There is a possiblity he develops hyperosmolar hyperglycemic syndrome (he's fat, it's hot out) falls down in public and wakes up in the hospital, where a nice clipboard lady helps him fill out the cheap insulin application. There's also a possiblity this happens in his apartment and nobody notices until it starts to smell. More likely, Jake's wake-up call will be the usual, vision loss or nonhealing wound.
He has no job, and is way too old to be covered under his mommy's plan, so i have no idea where his medical insurance (if he actually had any) came from.
I don't know specifically how Medicaid works in CT but considering Jake's been self-reporting
heavy use of the medical system, he's probably on it. Usually there's a qualifier just for being low-income.
