Sky high prices: Soaring insulin costs have diabetics struggling
Courtesy of Metro Creative
The American Diabetes Association formed an Insulin Access and Affordability Working Group in 2017 to study rising insulin prices and affordability of insulin.
Dr. Bononi
Courtesy of Metro Creative
A new study conducted for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows insulin prices in the United States are at least four times higher and – in some cases – up to 30 times higher than in 32 other nations with similar high-income economies.
Imagine needing one, two or even more doses of medication just to stay alive.
Many Americans may be in this exact situation.
Now, imagine the cost of that medication has doubled in the past seven years. That’s the reality facing many diabetics who rely on insulin every day.
Studies show half of diabetics asked admit to skipping doses to cut costs. A new study conducted for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows insulin prices in the United States are at least four times higher and – in some cases – up to 30 times higher than in 32 other nations with similar high-income economies.
The study shows in 2018, the average U.S. price per standard unit for insulin was $98.70. Meanwhile, the price was only $6.94 in Australia, $12 in Canada and $7.52 in the United Kingdom. Nearly 27 million Americans are diabetic and almost 1.6 million of them require daily insulin doses. Soaring insulin costs were already creating a financial hardship even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now, layoffs and job cuts have cost more Americans their employee-based health insurance and are putting more patients reliant on insulin at increased risk of not being able to afford it.
Why are prices so high?
The first question is why insulin is so expensive in the United States in the first place and why prices have skyrocketed over the past decade.
“This is a complicated issue and there is not a simple answer,” said Dr. Patricia Bononi, medical director of Allegheny Health Network’s Center for Diabetes and Endocrine Health. “The cost of insulin nearly tripled from 2002 to 2013 and doubled again from 2012 to 2016.”
The American Diabetes Association formed an Insulin Access and Affordability Working Group in 2017 to study rising insulin prices and affordability of insulin.
“They concluded that a complex supply chain from the drug factory to the pharmacy may promote higher prices and there is lack of transparency in the system,” Bononi said. “The bottom line is patients are paying increasingly higher amounts for insulin and are sometimes taking less insulin than prescribed, potentially putting their health at risk.”
What’s being done to lower prices?
Several states and the federal government have taken steps in the past year aimed at curbing the high cost of insulin.
President Donald Trump issued several executive orders this spring and summer aimed at cutting insulin costs.
An order in May affected Medicare recipients and would cap monthly co-pays for insulin at $35. In July, another executive order called for federal health care centers to pass along insulin discounts to low-income patients.
Supporters said the orders have helped reduce insulin costs, but critics claim overall costs are still too high, that insulin producers are still price gouging patients that the orders did nothing to help uninsured diabetics.
On the state level, there has been some movement to limit prices.
This fall, Vermont’s governor signed a law capping insulin costs at $100 per month for people with state-regulated health insurance. Other states have also taken action in the past year including Colorado, Virginia, New Mexico, Maine, Washington and West Virginia.
Gov. Jim Justice signed West Virginia’s insulin price legislation into law last April. The law got widespread support from the American Diabetes Association and limits insulin cost-sharing to $100 for a 30-day supply to anyone with state-regulated insurance. That same law also provides a new coverage mandate for diabetic supplies such as blood glucose monitors, syringes and insulin infusion devices.
Nearly 15% of West Virginia’s adult population is diabetic with nearly 14,000 West Virginians diagnosed each year.
There has also been some movement from several insulin manufacturers, which have taken steps to make insulin more affordable. One of them is Canonsburg-based Mylan Pharmaceuticals, which announced this fall it is releasing a new, lower-priced, generic version of one of its insulin injections.