A recent analysis by GoodRx of U.S. pharmacy and insurer data reported that the average selling price of insulin rose 54 percent from 2014 to 2019, but noted a slight decline in recent years. A 2020 RAND Corporation study led by Andrew Mulcahy, a senior policy researcher, found that the average U.S. list price of insulin — which he said had reached nearly $200 per vial, with higher prices for prefilled pens — was 10 times higher. high as that of other countries. Insulin users typically need two to three vials per month.
According to the American Diabetes Association, 22 states and Washington DC have imposed insulin co-pay caps ranging from $25 to $100 for 30-day supplies, which some are eager to expand nationwide. The association and others are also lobbying Congress to consider bipartisan legislation called the Insulin Act. which would encourage insulin manufacturers to lower list prices and limit monthly insulin costs for insured diabetics to $35.
Dr. Kasia Lipska, an associate professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine, published a study in July that found one in seven insulin users in the U.S. had “catastrophic expenditure” on the drug, meaning more than 40 percent of their disposable income. income went towards their treatment. A survey published in November found that 17 percent of insulin users reported rationing the drug to save money.
People who need insulin but don’t take it as prescribed are at significant risk for heart attack, kidney failure, amputation, blindness, and death.
High insulin prices, the California lawsuit said, also disproportionately affected Hispanic and black people, who have more type 2 diabetes than whites and are at greater risk of dying from the disease.
Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said the interaction between drug companies, pharmacy benefit administrators and insurers “induces fairly modest costs for insurance companies, but has served to drive up prices for patients who need pay out of pocket”, including those with high deductibles and the uninsured.
He and others hoped the lawsuits would help expose what they characterized as shady insulin pricing schemes. But Mr. Bonta, a Democrat, challenged the notion that there was much mystery about the business relationships outlined in the lawsuit.
