By GARRETT BERGQUIST
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
The leader of Eli Lilly & Co. on Wednesday said the company’s new insulin price cap stems from years of negotiations and research.
Lilly President and CEO Dave Ricks told reporters the company’s announcement of a $35 per month out-of-pocket price cap is partly rooted in a 2019 pilot program that led to the implementation of a cap for Medicare Part D users. He said the company supported last year’s unsuccessful effort to include a price cap for commercial insurance users in the Inflation Reduction Act.
“We think it’s time to reduce out-of-pocket costs for insulin and have insurance work as it’s intended, which is to shield people with chronic conditions from health care costs,” Ricks said.
The Indianapolis-based company announced a series of measures intended to reduce the price users pay for its insulin products. Effective immediately, the company is imposing a $35 per month out-of-pocket cap for users who buy their insulin at participating pharmacies and pay using private insurance. Company officials said this should be automatic for about 85 percent of privately insured users.
People who are uninsured or whose insurer does not participate in the program can download a savings card that will allow them to take advantage of the cap.
In addition to the cap, Lilly officials said they are lowering the list prices for the drug. Next month, the company will launch a new basal insulin called Rezvoglar. A set of five KwikPens, which contain multiple doses each, will cost $92. On May 1, Lilly’s non-branded insulin will drop to $25 per vial. Then, in the fall, list prices for Humalog and Humulin will fall from nearly $275 to $66.
Democrats in Congress and President Joe Biden have for years been pushing pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of insulin to $35 per month. The U.S. House approved language in its version of the Inflation Reduction Act to do so but Senate Republicans stripped it out during subsequent negotiations. Biden repeated his call for lower insulin prices in his State of the Union address on Feb. 7. He praised Lilly’s announcement on Wednesday and urged other insulin manufacturers to follow suit.
Editor’s note: The Trump Administration initiated a rule in late 2020 that directed the Department of Health and Human Services to offer certain Medicare Part D plans that capped insulin at $35 per month for seniors insured by those plans. Following Joe Biden’s inauguration, his administration rescinded the rule until implementing it on July 20, 2021.
Ricks said Lilly will continue to support legislation to limit insulin prices across the board.
“While we hope that Congress would pass a similar cap in the commercial market, it’s a difficult political setup to pass anything, and why wait?” he said.
Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl had this to say about the announcement:
“Eli Lilly’s decision to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month is a testament to the leadership of President Biden and Democrats in Congress like Representatives André Carson and Frank Mrvan – all of whom have been fighting for affordable healthcare and access to life-saving medications for all Americans.
“We applaud Eli Lilly for following Democrats’ lead and taking this important step toward making affordable healthcare more accessible for all. We urge other pharmaceutical companies to join Democrats and prioritize the health and well-being of the American people by working towards providing affordable healthcare for all.”
President Biden released a statement Wednesday after Lilly announced their action to lower insulin costs:
“Today, Eli Lilly, the largest manufacturer of insulin in the United States, announced that they are lowering their prices, capping what patients pay out of pocket for the drug maker’s insulin products at $35. For far too long, American families have been crushed by drug costs many times higher than what people in other countries are charged for the same prescriptions. Insulin costs less than $10 to make, but Americans are sometimes forced to pay over $300 for it. It’s flat wrong.
“Last year, I signed a law to cap insulin at $35 for seniors and I called on pharma companies to bring prices down for everyone on their own. Today, Eli Lilly did that.
“It’s a big deal, and it’s time for other manufacturers to follow.”