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The title and article is misleading: > US House passes Bill to limit cost of insulin to $35/mo . > fulfilling its promise of lowering drug costs. Insulin co
by Someone1234 5y ago
The title and article is misleading:
> US House passes Bill to limit cost of insulin to $35/mo
.
> fulfilling its promise of lowering drug costs.
Insulin costs under $5 to make. If they had in fact limited the price to $35/months that would be fantastic. But what the bill actually does is force insurers to pick up 100% of costs over $35/month, allowing pharma companies to keep charging abusive rates and everyone will indirectly pay for that by increased premiums.
Even the bill's own summary[0] is much more clear on what it does than this article:
> This bill limits cost-sharing for insulin under private health insurance and the Medicare prescription drug benefit.
That's literally the first line.
The second line is:
> Specifically, the bill caps cost-sharing under private health insurance for a month's supply of selected insulin products at $35 or 25% of a plan's negotiated price (after any price concessions), whichever is less, beginning in 2023.
This might seem like a distinction without a difference, but I strongly disagree. Insulin prices themselves are abusive and the underlying problem here, this doesn't even seek to address those and instead just hides the profiteering behind higher insurance premiums.
Time to actually fix drug pricing and not keep shoving everything behind an insurance smokescreen and then acting surprise then insurance premium rates are astronomical.
[0] https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6833?s=1&r=1 https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6833...
- cptskippy 5y agoThis is politics in America. Politicians obstruct everything meaningful but allow these "wins" through when they do absolutely nothing to fix any of our problems, only obfuscate them.
- koolba 5y ago> ... allowing pharma companies to keep charging abusive rates and everyone will indirectly pay for that by increased premiums. That's what always happens with these programs. "Free" physical / wellness visit? Your insurance premiums bake that in. "Free" COVID tests? Your insurance premiums bake that in.
- throwawayboise 5y agoYes, I'd love to be able to buy health insurance that was truly insurance and not a pre-pay plan for a bunch of stuff I'll never use.
- belltaco 5y agoDon't those "Free" things benefit society as a whole?
- dilap 5y ago> Insulin costs under $5 to make. Alright, here's what I don't understand: Why isn't the market working here? Why doesn't someone sell insulin at cheaper price, steal the ~ whole market, and make a killing? Is there some sort of cartel gentlemen's agreement? Is it impossible to get licensed to sell insulin? Something else? Gotta be something, right?!
- adamredwoods 5y agoAccording to this article, the market was working. Various generic insulin was approved and the price for some insulins was dropping or holding steady: https://www.goodrx.com/healthcare-access/research/how-much-does-insulin-cost-compare-brands https://www.goodrx.com/healthcare-access/research/how-much-d... >> Like generics, follow-on products have also helped to bring down insulin prices overall. Generics contain the exact replicas of the active ingredients in a brand-name medication. But biologic drugs like insulin are nearly impossible to recreate. So sometimes, manufacturers make close copies of them instead, known as “follow-ons” or “biosimilars.” Biosimilars tend to be more expensive than generics but less expensive than brands. >> For example, Admelog was approved as the follow-on to Humalog in 2017. The average retail price for a 3mL vial of Admelog is now $54, compared to $123 for the same-size vial of Humalog. Lantus has a follow-on, too: Basaglar, approved in 2016. By price per insulin unit, Basaglar is 23% cheaper than Lantus. In July 2021, the FDA also approved insulin glargine, a biosimilar to be used interchangeably with Lantus. In its first quarter, retail prices for a unit of insulin glargine were about 60% lower than retail prices for a unit of Lantus.
- lesuorac 5y agoIMO the article does not claim the market is working. Insurance companies are not including those generics in their plans so people can't use them. I bet if congress cap'd how much they could charge for insulin they might be incentivized to get people to pick a cheaper (generic) option. > However, we’ve seen that limited insurance coverage [1] can prevent some patients from accessing these savings. [1]: https://www.goodrx.com/classes/insulins/generic-insulins-see-low-fills-insulin-lispro-insulin-aspart https://www.goodrx.com/classes/insulins/generic-insulins-see...