California’s Plan for Cheaper Insulin Collides With Big Pharma’s Price Cuts

The price of insulin has quadrupled in the past 20 years, making it unaffordable for many of the eight million Americans with diabetes who need it, including one million Californians. While some people with private health insurance pay little or nothing for a monthly insulin supply, those with high-deductible plans or no insurance often face much higher costs, which can amount to hundreds of dollars per month. Since January, the Inflation Reduction Act has imposed a $35 price cap for the nearly four million insulin users with Medicare Part D. However, 19% of California’s insulin users, who are uninsured or have high-deductible plans, are not covered by the price cap and continue to face high costs. In March, the state of California awarded a $50 million contract to Civica, a nonprofit organization, to manufacture low-cost insulin that’s cheaper than brand-name companies. However,  Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi, the 3 companies that control about 90 percent of the insulin market, have announced sticker-price cuts for certain insulin products. Hence, Whether Civica’s insulin will be that much cheaper than the big-brand names once the new price cuts are imposed is open for debate. To read more, click here.