By Felicia Fox
March 24, 2023
Protesters take to the street to advocate for affordable insulin.
The amount of people diagnosed with diabetes has doubled in the past two decades, with 37 million adult Americans classified as diabetic and 96 million classified as prediabetic.
A diabetic is dependent on insulin. Without it, their body would break down its own fat and muscle, resulting in weight loss. This lead can lead to ketoacidosis, which causes severe dehydration, which can lead to death.
Due to supply and demand, diabetics have seen the price of insulin triple, making it unaffordable for the average American. And as it's a relatively inexpensive medicine to produce, the spike in cost has been largely criticized as an unfair money grab.
As part of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, nearly four million seniors on Medicare with diabetes are starting to see their insulin costs capped at $35 per month. Prior to this, a vial of insulin could cost nearly $300.
“Last year, I called on pharma companies to bring prices down for everyone on their own," Biden said on March 1st.
On that same day, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly announced a series of price cuts that would lower the price of the most commonly used forms of its insulin 70% and said it will automatically cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 for people who have private insurance and use participating pharmacies.
States have also started taken action. 22 of them + the District of Columbia now have price caps ranging from $25 to $100 for insulin as well as diabetic supplies and devices. This is only for those covered by insurance plans regulated by those states, however.
There is a hope to reduce insulin prices even more, as non-branded insulin could be reduced to $25 on May 1st. The current price per vial of insulin is $82.41, making the new price a third of the original cost. This would be the lowest cost of insulin that is currently available.
Name brand insulin will also be lowered to around $35 per vial. These prices will be set near the end of 2023. For instance, Humalog, one name brand of insulin, will decrease from $274.70 to $66.40.
Another plus is for people with commercial insurance. The out of pocket fees will now be stopped at $35 with participating pharmacies.
All eyes remain on big pharma to lead the way in price reductions for life-saving medications.
Meet the Writer!
Felicia Fox, Class of 2023, is a staff writer for the Dedham Mirror in Journalism 3. She participates in many clubs in Dedham High. Along with having some hobbies of cooking, drawing, playing video games, reading and many more. Felicia is always willing to help others so feel free to ask any question if you see her in the hallway about school.
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