Cost of insulin doubled between 2012 and 2016

pharmafile | January 23, 2019 | News story | Research and Development USA, healthcare, insulin, insurance, pricing 

The cost of insulin almost doubled in the United States between 2012 and 2016, according to a report by the non-profit Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI).

The report found that in 2012, a patient with type 1 diabetes paid on average $2,864 for a years’ worth of insulin. By 2016 the average patient paid almost double that amount, paying $5,705 for a year’s supply of many of the same products. The figures represent the combined amount paid by patients and their insurers.

While prices increased, use remained flat. The increasing cost led some patients to put their lives and health at risk.

“It’s not that individuals are using more insulin or that new products are particularly innovative or provide immense benefits,” Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, a senior researcher at HCCI and the report’s co-author said to Reuters in a phone interview.

“Use is pretty flat, and the price changes are occurring in both older and newer products. That surprised me. The exact same products are costing double.”

The report comes after major firms hiked the price of insulin in 2019. So far Sanofi, have raised the price of insulin products by between 4.4% and 5.2%. Meanwhile Novo Nordisk raised the price of some if its insulin products by 4.9%.

Louis Goss

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