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Drugmaker Eli Lilly dropping insulin prices

Pharmaceutical company capping out-of-pocket cost to $35/month

It’s a major price cut that could help millions of Americans.

Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly is dropping the price of its insulin products, capping the out-of-pocket cost to $35 a month, it was announced Wednesday.

Some people previously paid hundreds of dollars each month — which caused nationwide outrage and a call for change. Now, some patients could save thousands of dollars a year.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 37 million adults in the United States are diabetic. For people with diabetes, Wednesday’s announcement is a long time coming.

“I’m Type 1 diabetic insulin dependent. I’ve had it for 40 years,” said Kim Rivera from Baker County.

Rivera has had to take daily shots since she was 5, and it has been expensive even with insurance. She pays about $200 a month.

“Yeah, I do have insurance, so that is just my copay amount,” Rivera said. “It’s a lot to survive, and it’s aggravating.”

But the announcement from drugmaker Eli Lilly’s CEO, Dave Ricks, is promising. He said the company is capping the out-of-pocket cost of its life-saving insulin to little more than $1 a day.

“While we could wait for Congress to act or the health care system in general to apply that standard, we’re just applying it ourselves. Lilly’s going to buy down all of our customers’ out-of-pocket cost to $35 at the pharmacy counter automatically,” Ricks said.

People could potentially save a whole lot of money with this change. Say you are paying $200 per month out of pocket for your insulin. Well, with 12 months in a year, you are looking at a grand total of $2,400. That’s a lot of money for most families. On the other hand, with this switch and a $ 35-a-month cap on insulin, you multiply that by 12. And you have a much smaller grand total of $420 per month. If you look at the cost savings over the year 2400 minus 420, that’s nearly $2,000.

Rivera said she’s going to use that extra money for “normal daily activities.”

“Rather than having to use it stay alive,” Rivera said.

Starting now, Lilly will automatically cap the cost at $35 for insured patients at participating pharmacies.

Patients without insurance can download a savings card to receive Lilly insulins for $35 a month by going to InsulinAffordability.com.

“That’s a huge blessing,” Rivera said. “I wish they would do it for all insulins, that would be wonderful.”

The price drop comes amid intense scrutiny over drug prices – many have called on lawmakers to crack down on the cost of medication… Vic Micolucci, CH4, TLS.

Although insulin is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, the cost has been rising for years. According to the American Diabetes Association, the average price of insulin nearly tripled between 2002 and 2013.

Demand has increased as diabetes becomes the fastest-growing chronic disease in the world.


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