This photo illustration shows an insulin pen made by Novo Nordisk on display in Miami, Florida on March 14, 2023.
Joe Ladle | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Top executives of three pharmaceutical companies that control 90% of the world insulin The market is set to testify before the Senate Health Committee on May 10 about cutting the price of diabetes drugs, said panel chair Sen. Bernie Sanders said on Friday.
These companies (Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi) announced in March that they would cut the prices of their most widely used insulin products by more than 70%.
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Mr Sanders said on Friday that the move was an important step forward, the result of “public outrage and strong grassroots efforts”.
But an independent Vermont agency added that Congress must ensure that insulin, which has risen more than 1,000% in price since 1996, remains affordable for everyone.
In a statement announcing the scheduled testimony of Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks, Sanders said, “But these price cuts will make the insulin that every American needs affordable. We have to make sure that it is available in the market.” Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson and Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fluergaard Jorgensen.
Sanders said insulin prices from both companies will cost at least $275 before the announced price cuts.
Eli Lilly declined to comment when asked about the hearing schedule. A Sanofi spokesperson said the company supports efforts to cut costs and believes other parts of the health system need to do more to help patients. The CEO said he looked forward to a “productive and collaborative discussion on this important issue.”
Top Executives of the Big 3 Pharmacy Benefits Administrators CVS HealthExpress scripts and Optum Rx He will also testify, according to Sanders’ office. These executives are David Joyner, President of CVS Health pharmacy services. He is Adam Kautzner, president of Express Scripts. Optum Rx CEO Heather Cianfrocco said:
A pharmacy benefits administrator is an intermediary who negotiates drug prices with manufacturers on behalf of health insurance plans. PBM has been criticized for inflating drug prices and not passing on all the discounts they bargained to consumers.
The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 17% of patients using insulin in 2021 had to be rationed due to high costs.
About 19% of privately insured insulin users were rationed, and 29% of uninsured insulin users were rationed, according to HHS.
The drug companies’ decision to cut insulin prices comes a month after President Joe Biden called on Congress to cap insulin prices at $35 a month in his State of the Union address.
Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act introduced caps on Medicare, a government-run health insurance program aimed primarily at seniors, but the law did not include those with private insurance. did not.
More than 2 million diabetics who take insulin have private insurance, according to HHS.
About 150,000 patients taking insulin are also uninsured, the ministry said.
On Thursday, two senators, Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H.) and Susan Collins (Maine, Republican), will limit private health insurance to $35 per month for each insulin type and dosage form. introduced a bipartisan law requiring The bill also includes other measures to reduce prices.
There are fast-acting, short-acting, intermediate-acting, long-acting, and premixed insulin types. Dosage forms include vials, pens, and inhalers.
