- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- news@lemmy.world
More Americans with diabetes will get a break on their insulin costs in 2024.
Sanofi is joining the nation’s two other major insulin manufacturers in offering either price caps or savings programs that lower the cost of the drugs to $35 for many patients. The three drugmakers are also drastically lowering the list prices for their products.
The moves were announced in the spring, but some didn’t take effect until January 1.
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Congress and new players in the market have increased pressure on insulin manufacturers to lower their prices. Medicare enrollees now pay no more than $35 a month for each of their insulin prescriptions, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democratic lawmakers pushed through Congress in 2022.
But drugmakers also faced changes to the Medicaid rebate program that would have likely cost them hundreds of millions of dollars each if they didn’t lower their list prices.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Sanofi established a $35 monthly cap on out-of-pocket costs for Lantus, its most widely prescribed insulin in the US, for all patients with commercial insurance starting January 1.
And Eli Lilly in March instituted an automatic $35 monthly cap on out-of-pocket costs for those with commercial insurance buying its insulin products at participating retail pharmacies.
By cutting the list prices for Humalog and Humulin, Eli Lilly could avoid having to pay an additional $430 million in Medicaid rebates in 2024, said Spencer Perlman, director of health care research at Veda Partners, a consulting group that provides policy analysis to institutional investors.
Asked for a response about the Medicaid rebate payments, Novo Nordisk said changes in price trigger several operational requirements and affect multiple parts of the company, which is why it implemented them on January 1.
Eli Lilly responded that it weighed multiple factors – including changes in the marketplace, legislation and regulations – to determine the right time to lower list prices in a way that is affordable for patients and ensures that the company can continue operating a sustainable insulin business that can keep providing the drug to Medicaid at little to no cost.
Drugmakers would have been hit so hard because they all hiked the list prices of their insulin, and they provide hefty rebates to pharmacy benefit managers to ensure their products are covered by insurance plans.
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“Drugmakers would have been hit so hard because they all hiked the list prices of their insulin, and they provide hefty rebates to pharmacy benefit managers to ensure their products are covered by insurance plans.”
Paying ‘rebates’ to cover their artificially overpriced drugs suddenly stopped being enough when the biggest game in town told them to stuff it. As my grandmother was fond of saying, my heart pumps horse piss for ya…