Good idea. Should be replicated for many other drugs, too, by President Joe Biden, after this criminal is ejected from office. We can even call it Trumpcare, for all I care, as long as we stop letting companies exploit disease for profit, and stop letting this administration exist, full stop.
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I bet some extra dollars for policing anti-competitive trade practices or letting the government negotiate drug prices would do a lot more to lower the price of insulin than some back-room deal to cap the out of pocket costs for Medicare recipients.
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The new Medicare program as described doesn't consider that most insulin-dependent diabetics use two different insulins each day -- a fast-acting one at mealtimes and a slow-acting one at bedtime to be effective duning sleeping hours. So a $35 cap really is a $70 cap, since the cap appears to be for EACH prescription, rather than both.
I have a diabetic dog and the price I have paid for insulin at Costco hasn’t changed in several years.
2
Three companies pretty much control the production of insulin. The formula has been around for decades; not a new innovation. Sadly, these companies have agreed to be sole suppliers within a country - they've created a monopoly and no government is fighting them.
To cap the price at $35 for 'some elderly patients' is nonsense. The price should be capped across the country (world) for all patients. If the profit margins are too small for the company (?) then they should be out of the business. What astounds me is the cost in the US vs. the rest of the world. Inexcusable.
4
I guess I'm helping big pharma. I take a thyroid medication and I, too, am on Medicare. The price of my thyroid medication went from $30/month to $40/month.
$35 is still way too much for an item whose cost have been artificially inflated.
2
I am a retired endocrinologist. This story exposes only the tip of the iceberg. As some commenters have noted, non-insulin medications for type 2 diabetes are also expensive. Those requiring insulin often require 2 different insulins, as well as other supplies for injection and testing. So, the financial burden of diabetes is even greater than this article suggests.
While some price increases may be attributable to the manufacturers, it is important to focus attention on the pharmacy benefit managers. I would be very interested to learn how much these so-called services receive in exchange for designating a preferred insulin manufacturer to their plan members. How do they decide on Lilly v. Novo v. Sanofi? How are the "cost savings" apportioned between the corporate entity and the patients? We need much more transparency on this point.
Finally, it is worth noting that while all 3 major insulin manufacturers produce high quality products, they are not freely interchangeable and a switch of preferred manufacturers imposes real costs elsewhere in the medical system.
I agree with all those commenters who worry about cost shifting to younger patients.
12
What a sick health care system. America should be ashamed of itself.
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@GB Yes, we should be ashamed of ourselves for SO many issues, but Healthcare, is right at the top of the list. When Insurance companies took over everything it destroyed everything. I can't imagine how it has ruined the life of Doctors & everyone else connected.
One Sick sick society !
Don’t touch the price of insulin or any other drug, America. Canadian retirement funds are built by investing in American drug companies, why not make some cash on people who can’t seem to vote for political representatives who will generate reasonable policy choices. I say eat until you’re obese and need insulin America, that way I and many other Canadians can retire at 65, while still paying less than ya’ll on basic medicine!
5
Why limit this to Medicare only? Cap the price per vial, full stop.
17
That’s right. My first thought was, sure they will cap it for old, type 2 people who are overweight and leave the companies free to raise prices to cover their profit loss on my 4 year old niece and 31 year old son-in-law with type 1. BTW my brilliant son-in-law cannot start his own start-up because he will die without insulin and can’t pay for it without insurance which is astronomical.
9
I've been completely shocked that people in a very wealthy country are dying from lack of insulin in 2020. We feel so sorry for you having to live in such a society.
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That’s great, but what about the rest of us?!?
9
Big Pharma continues its relentless lobbying of Congress and evergreening of their patents to maintain a lockhold on their golden goose(s).
As long as they CAN charge what they charge, they WILL.
5
How does this help anyone not on MEDICARE!
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Heart breaking details that life sustaining drugs, costing pennies to produce per dose is some how unaffordable to the public.
When a gang loan sharks they are prosecuted for racketeering, but when a multi billion dollar corporation price gouges, it's business as usual.
12
Navigating this confusing maze of "if you have X insurance then..." is difficult at best for an intelligent, informed consumer, and next to impossible for many. Please, let's get a single payer health care system ASAP, so there's just one bureaucracy to deal with. As a physician, this drives me crazy, with prior authorizations for expensive meds required every time someone's employer changes the insurance plan.
11
The only way to control drug prices is to have a single payer like Medicare that would require a drug maker to show how the price they want to charge match the benefits of what they are offering and for common drugs like insulin how all those who need it can afford co-pays etc.
Almost every other developed country does this in some way, while here Medicare cannot negotiate pricea
6
A terrible solution right there with those coupon and rebate scams big Pharma loves.
Who pays the difference - younger consumers? The Medicare system whose funding this Administration wants to cut via that payroll tax holiday?
By the way, this Administration is working overtime to boost the cost of drugs in countries like Canada and Mexico that many Americans have gone to for relief from our disastrous drug system.
7
I guess this means my 35-yr. old son with Type 1 (four shots a day) isn't worth President Trump's deal-making. Medicare for All. Stop this insanity and cruelty..
34
Nice if you didn't know that the production for a vial of insulin costs between about $2.25 and $6.50 and for diabetics it as essential as air. Both the drug companies and the government could do way better than this here.
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@sarah My thoughts exactly. $35 is still way too high and the fact that this impacts only a small segment of the population in need of insulin is absurd. There's no reason why insulin should cost more than $5-10 per month (if that!!) for EVERYONE who needs it regardless of insurance or age.
2
I am amazed that i find only 1 comment on such a important story.Also,as i read the comments from each of the three insulin makers and they react with this "we will work with the regulators and try to combat this problem all the while "THEY ARE THE PROBLEM" The greed they own is shameful! $450 a month for a simple medication we have been making for decades for a few cents a dose.People have to decide whether to eat or buy insulin! Big Pharma needs to be handled like yesterday.This while a CEO makes a million dollars a month and owns 6 homes.People should be furious.It only happens because we stand by and let them charge whatever they want.Profit before People,the stupid american way!
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IF .... SOME .... COULD ... Not a good start to actually helping.
This is why we need medicare for all.
4
It would be nice if there were a bit more precision in the numbers in this article. The opening sentence is:
"A new Medicare pilot program would lower the cost of insulin to $35 a prescription for older Americans ..."
What is a prescription?
Further down it says that the cost is $450 per month or about $10,000 per year and that the cost saving would be about $446 per year, a whopping 5% saving.
I think the article should be rewritten to lead with "The Trump administration is proposing a program in which drug companies voluntarily agree to reduce cost of insulin by about 5% for *some* users. This will mean that it will be only 9.5 times as expensive as it is in Canada."
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@Alan White Sorry, an arithmetic error. The annual cost should be $5,000, a 10% saving.
1
@Alan White I do not understand your comments. I require 6 vials a month of insulin to live. You give the impression one vial a month is all it takes-------- Us type 1 diabetics are all a varied bunch.
3
How much cost-shifting will be done to younger insulin users? There's a profit margin to be maintained for shareholders, after all. My daughter is 25 and will soon be off of our insurance. With the impending loss of the ACA protection against pre-existing conditions we're dreading how much this might cost her. Insulin is retailing at $300 a vial right now, each of which might be two weeks worth. Still waiting for the new and improved, "beautiful" healthcare plans to be unveiled. I suspect we're going to be waiting a loooong time.
24
Is this going to increase the cost of insulin to non-seniors, as so many Type 1 Diabetes patients are not seniors...
14
I'm sorry to be so cynical, but am I the only one who thinks that trumpf, the drug companies and the insurers are calculating just how many crumbs they have to concede, timed to the minute to maximize impact during elections, in order to keep staving off any meaningful health care reform? Cover COVID-19 testing, but not prenatal care or ER visits for the un-or underinsured? Reduce the price of insulin, but not heart disease drugs? They are bragging about their magnanimity in offering an OLD drug at a reasonable price--which they should have done all along, and which the rest of the world expects, and gets.
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@Terry
That's like being offered a new car and then complaining that it's not a Ferrari. Sheesh. Some people are never happy.
1
@Locke_
"Some people are never happy"? You expect that the parents of a type I (childhood onset) diabetic child should be happy with paying just 30% of their monthly income for a medication to keep their child alive, as opposed to 45% — for something that costs a few dollars to manufacture? It's more like trying to buy a no-frills car that could be sold for $12k and being told that that no-frills car is only available for the price of a Ferrari.
20
Most of the elderly who have diabetes are Type 2 diabetics. Whereas Type 1 diabetics need insulin, the medical literature shows that Type 2 diabetics are better treated with oral diabetes medications at least in most instances.
The new and improved oral diabetes medications often cost over $500 per month. The government will be foolish to focus only on insulin when that doesn't address the issue for most elderly diabetes patients.
16
@Bob Type two diabetes is, in most cases, a disease of indulgence. Choose a plant-based diet and begin an exercise regimen and the need for medication disappears.
1
@Vink Tell that to my mother, who was 5'7" tall, 125 pounds, walked at least two miles a day, and was diagnosed Type 2 in her seventies. And then tell it to me, also active and of normal weight, but who inherited her predisposition.
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@Vink You are not helpful with your plant-based condescension. Blaming the victims is so small, and to say it's "indulgence" is just silly. What foods are cheap, readily available, and easy to keep for poor people? Carbohydrates: rice, beans, bread, pasta, etc. (all plant-based, by the way.) It takes a lot of planning, careful shopping, and time to eat properly as a diabetic. Most people are doing the best that they can.
9
Please explain why the manufacturers were but asked about expanding production. Is it just so simple that they collude to keep production low in order to keep prices high. Why not government subsidies to new manufacturers to lower price. Aim at the root cause.
1
What amazing legislative work and collaborative work did Mexico do to get insulin prices below $50 per month from Sanofi, Novo and Lily?
And no, it’s not off-brand diluted junk. It’s the exact same formulas in the exact same quantities as sold in the U.S.
28
Wonderful for insulin-dependent diabetics eligible for Medicare, but what about all the insulin-dependent diabetics under the age of 65?
31
I wonder if this will also apply to insulin pens. One of the frustrating things is currently with Medicare part D. if your prescription for the pens ( a total of 1500 units) last more than 30 days, the person has to pay 2 copayments. So if you went through the insulin in 30 days-one co pay, over 30 days a double copay. A 33 day supply counts as a 2 month supply because it is over 30 days.
the pens are only sold in a 5pack for a total of 1500 units.
I have been a Type 1 diabetic for 48 years (and counting). It's challenging. But the hardest part, I think, is getting people to realize insulin is as essential as air. Fortunate are those whose bodies make insulin. Mine does not.
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