I live with multiple health issues, including asthma, an autoimmune disease, diabetes, and gastroparesis. On top of dealing with the sometimes debilitating symptoms of these conditions, I am also under immense financial stress because of them. The costs of my medications adds up. The blockbuster drug that really breaks the bank for me is my Humira. It costs $6,000 per treatment. Another medicine that really puts me out is my insulin. The cost of diabetes medicines is absolutely bankrupting.

I have to decide which medicines I can do without and which I can’t. I end up rationing my medicine, and that is like playing Russian Roulette with my health. Because of this, my conditions have worsened. I lost vision in one eye due to my diabetes. It is getting more and more difficult to remain active. I want to be able to live a happy and healthy lifestyle and not be so negatively affected by high cost medications.

Since the age of 10, I have also been living with Crohn’s Disease. Along with Crohn’s Disease, I have suffered from severe chronic migraines, arthritis, sacroiliitis, fibromyalgia, psoriasis, and chronic pain for as long as I can remember. Something they don’t tell you when you’re diagnosed: You may not be able to pay for your treatment. I am fortunate enough to have great insurance coverage, but I still remember the day I received a bill for a chemotherapy treatment I received. It was for $100,000. The number hit me in the chest. How could anyone afford that? I keep this bill as a reminder: The prescription drug pricing system is broken.

Since I had a benign brain tumor removed in 2012, I’ve had to take medications to prevent seizures. For years now, I’ve bought my brand name drugs from Canada simply because it’s much more affordable than getting them in the United States. I’m grateful that another country can help me with these medications that I have to take for the rest of my life, but it’s just too bad that I have to play this game.

Though I have benefited from Canadian drug prices, this might not be a permanent solution. It’s ridiculous that the United States subjects its own citizens to such high drug prices, and it’s even more infuriating that politicians take money from Big Pharma and have family members that sit on their executive boards. They’ve shown that they simply don’t care.

My name is Dr. Julia Blanchette and I live in Cleveland, Ohio. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes over 20 years ago and need insulin to live. I was always aware of the widespread unaffordability of insulin, but the financial burden of insulin became real for me while I was working on my Ph.D. in Nursing Science. At the time, I was still on my parents’ insurance since I had not yet turned 26 years old. In January of 2016, my parents’ plan switched from a non-high deductible plan to a high deductible plan and my individual deductible on this plan suddenly increased to $4,000.

These days, it’s incredibly difficult for young adults to gain financial independence to begin with. When you have a chronic condition with expensive medications, it becomes nearly impossible. Pharmaceutical companies’ greed not only hurts patients through the inability to access care, but also through the stress caused by these unreasonable prices that impacts our health outcomes. We need changes that place patients’ needs first so that we can afford our prescription drugs.

My name is Ashley Suder. I’m from Morgantown, West Virginia, and I live with lupus. The drug I take now, Benlysta, works well, but it’s especially expensive, priced at more than $35,000 a year — about $3,000 to $5,000 a month. Benlysta’s prices are so high I know I may not always be able to get this drug.

Going without expensive medications or substituting a different one because of drug prices has negatively affected me my whole life. Drug prices have made me sicker and far less functional than I would be if I had affordable access to the proper medications. I currently work as a nursing assistant, and at times almost my entire paycheck goes towards paying for my medicines. I’m constantly relying on samples from doctors to treat my condition because it’s just so expensive. It’s no way to live, but I don’t have a choice.