More Americans can now get insulin for $35
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.
Drugmakers have come under fire for years for steeply raising the price of insulin, which is relatively inexpensive to produce. The inflation-adjusted cost of the medication has increased 24% between 2017 and 2022, and spending on insulin has tripled in the past decade to $22.3 billion in 2022, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Some 8.4 million Americans rely on insulin to survive, and as many as 1 in 4 patients have been unable to afford their medicine, leading them to ration doses – sometimes with fatal ramifications, according to the association.
Still too much. Insulin in my country is around $10+. And it's a third world country.
Yeah, exactly.
Insulin costs like 2 bucks a vial to make.
even 35 dollars is an egregious rip off.
It seems like a compromise price, though it should be free or near free at the point of "purchase" in any first world nation. The sheer fact that it was controversial to even compromise at $35 and still allow a hefty profit on a medicine you would die without is a testament to how fucked up American healthcare has become.
American Healthcare has been fucked up since insurance became standard and expected
Insurance is what allowed greed to explode in the industry. Its why you get charged 90 dollars for an a single asprin. Its why everything is fucked up, and its ruined the entire medical field for anyone who has no insurance or bad insurance.
No arguments there. I sit with an insurance plan my company pays 100% of, which is over $600/mo. The insurance company provides no co pay. I pay 100% of doctors visits until I meet the $3200 deductible per visit. And that's if they are in network, the deductible is double that if it's out of network, like say with the medical provider that controls 80% of the doctors in the area. Anthem/Elevance is beyond awful.
They have destroyed and inflated the cost of care, and provide "insurance" that only pays in the event of catastrophic care. It's a complete scam.
I have eleven thousand dollars in my health savings account. In theory, that will allow me to get sick two times. That's it. That's what I get. And I don't believe I'll even get that. Insurance finds a way to deny everything.
Also why ambulance rides went from always free to costing thousands of dollars. Localities figured out they could bill insurance for them.