More Americans can now get insulin for $35
(CNN)—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.
The amount of profit that they might be giving up [by capping costs] is relatively limited. The goodwill that they get is very significant.
Timothy Lash
President & Chair, West Health Policy Center