Duluth, GA — The start of 2024 marks one year since Rep. Lucy McBath’s plan to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors on Medicare went into effect. 40 million Americans live with diabetes and as many as 1 in 4 diabetic patients ration or skip insulin doses due to the exorbitant costs. The law has helped make a drug that has been around for 100 years, and that many diabetics need every day, more affordable for the seniors who need it.
On January 1, 2024, $35 price caps for insulin made by the drugmaker Sanofi also took effect. Thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act and additional pressure from Congress, more Americans who require insulin will see their prices capped. Sanofi is now the third and final major insulin manufacturer in the nation to institute price caps and savings programs to drastically lower the cost of insulin for patients. Eli Lilly instituted their $35 monthly cap on out-of-pocket costs in March of 2023 and Novo Nordisk launched the MyInsulinRx program, which allows patients to buy insulin for as little as $35, in September of 2023.
“This week’s news brings needed relief for additional families who have continued to struggle with the outrageous price of lifesaving insulin,” McBath said. “I have been proud to champion policies in Congress to lower prescription drug prices for Americans, including our law that caps insulin prices at $35 per month for our seniors. We are taking important steps to ensure that no man, woman, or child in this country goes without medication simply because they cannot afford it.”
As a two-time breast cancer survivor, McBath has been a strong advocate to lower the cost of healthcare for American families. In 1920, before insulin was discovered, it would have been exceptional for diabetic patients to live longer than a year or two. 100 years later, some estimates state that diabetics spend nearly $6,000 a year on insulin alone. Analysis from the American Diabetes Association asserts that care for diagnosed diabetic patients accounts for one out of every four dollars spent on healthcare in the United States, and from 2012 to 2016, insulin prices doubled. Last year, more than 103,000 Americans died from diabetes.