Insulin frustration

Novolog
This insulin is what SuperD and the Brain use in their insulin pumps. It is a fast-acting insulin which begins working within about 5 minutes. That's why it's good for the pump. A diabetic can give themselves insulin (bolus) as they are eating their food and it will begin working immediately, just like insulin from a pancreas would. The Brain uses 1-2 bottles each month, and SuperD uses almost 3 bottles in the same time period. Without insurance, this small bottle costs $164.19. So if not for medical insurance, our family would spend $820.95 on insulin alone while using two insulin pumps.

Novolin R
This is the insulin SuperD will have to use until he is back on insurance. Novolin R is also a fast-acting insulin, but it doesn't begin working until about 30 minutes after you inject it. So, a diabetic must estimate how much food will be consumed at a meal, estimate what time the meal will be eaten, and take the estimated amount of insulin about 30 minutes before eating. Because of this, the peak time of the insulin, and the amount of time it takes to cycle through the body, it is not recommended to be used in an insulin pump. That's unfortunate since this small bottle only costs $24.88.

So, the question is: why is Novolog almost 7 times more expensive than Novolin?

Of course, even if it were recommended for pump use, we would still have to find a way to purchase the ultra-expensive infusion sets (needle and tubing) and cartridges without insurance.