Letitia James

Insulin prescription costs are now capped at $35 a month for uninsured New Yorkers.

State Attorney General Letitia James announced the agreement with Eli Lilly and Company and Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC.

An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General found that the list prices set by insulin manufacturers for patients resulted in significant out-of-pocket costs for certain insulin users, causing some to ration their insulin or forgo it altogether.

Under the agreements, any uninsured New Yorker who uses Lilly or Sanofi insulin products will not be charged more than $35 for a monthly supply of insulin for the next five years, and both companies also committed to offering free insulin for the neediest patients.

Over the past two decades, the list prices for insulin have increased dramatically. From 2002 to 2013, the average list prices for insulin products from all manufacturers nearly tripled. For a person with Type 1 diabetes, annual spending on insulin averaged $2,864 in 2012, and that spending increased to an average of $5,705 in 2016. These dramatic cost increases were not driven by insulin manufacturing costs, which by one estimate would be no more than $133 per person per year.

More than 10 percent of New Yorkers have diabetes, and it is estimated that 464,000 of them rely on insulin every day. New Yorkers who live in the state’s poorest neighborhoods are 70 percent more likely to have diabetes. In fact, more than 16 percent of New York adults with diabetes have an annual household income of less than $25,000, while only six percent have an annual household income of more than $50,000.

As part of these agreements, Lilly and Sanofi have committed to offering affordable programs for patients and the companies agreed to implement a streamlined process at the pharmacy counter that would allow pharmacies to automatically advise cash-paying consumers of their ability to fill their monthly prescription for $35, before leaving the pharmacy counter.

In addition to the $35 monthly cap for any uninsured New Yorker, Lilly has also agreed to continue working with national relief agencies to identify high-need geographical locations throughout New York and to offer insulin products free of charge, through national relief agencies, to more eligible non-profit clinics in those locations. Those clinics can then offer insulin products for free in those areas that are the most in need. Sanofi has also agreed to offer free insulin to the neediest consumers who meet income thresholds tied to the federal poverty line.

Rep. Tom Reed (R-Corning)

WASHINGTON – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) says a large number of lawmakers in Washington are throwing their support behind an effort to increase funding for an ongoing federal diabetes research and education program.

Diabetes has been a long-time focus for Reed, who is a recovering Type 2 diabetic and whose son has also been diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic. The area congressman serves along side Colorado Democrat Diana DeGette as the co-chairs of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus. On Tuesday, Reed said they are introducing bipartisan legislation to continue funding what is known as the Special Diabetes Program for an additional five years, and increase its annual funding from $150 million to $200 million a year.

“Much of this $200 million a year goes to programs that obviously address the needs of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics overall, but in particular there is a sub component of the Special Diabetes Program specifically designated for Native Americans, which provides funding to Indian Health Services to take on the issue of Type 2 diabetes in our Native American populations across America,” Reed said.

Reed said that 378 members of the House have signed on in support of the increased funding and a letter of support has been sent to both Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Meanwhile, the cost of insulin for diabetic Americans continues to be on the rise, forcing some to make tough decisions on how to pay for insulin while also trying to make ends meet.

WRFA asked Reed if Congress is working on addressing the ongoing issue of expensive insulin, and he said that some work is underway to reign in the expensive cost of insulin and other prescription drugs.

“On the other side of the diabetes caucus, over the last year-and-a-half to two years, we have taken specific actions to highlight the cost of insulin and the ever increasing cost of insulin. If you look at the drug-pricing debate that is taking place on the hill right now in regards to biologic patent reforms, you will see that insulin is the cornerstone of that debate of overall drug prices in America,” Reed noted.

Reed also said that if anyone in the district is having difficulty getting insulin to treat diabetes, they can reach out to his office and he will help them out through a current program being offered by insulin manufacturers.

“If anyone out there is in need of insulin, [my office] will put them in contact with these manufacturers directly so they can deliver to some of them – at insulin costs no greater than $20, $25 of a supply that they need. That type of behavioral change is something  I support and applaud and want to raise awareness of so we can do that instead of always looking toward a legislative tool. This is immediate. This is in existence today,” Reed said.

Congressman Tom Reed’s local office number in Jamestown is (716) 708-6369.

National headlines have recently taken on the issue of rising insulin costs, with some stories focusing on Americans having to go to Canada in order to get affordable insulin. Meanwhile, the attorney General of Kentucky announced this week his office will sue the nation’s three largest insulin providers due to the expensive costs.