The House of Representatives on Thursday passed legislation to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month, which would significantly reduce the price of this lifesaving drug for more than 7 million Americans with diabetes.
The “Affordable Insulin Now” law, which is supposed to take effect in 2023 but whose fate in the Senate remains uncertain, would cap 25% of the price negotiated by the insurance plan, whichever is lower.
“One in four Americans are forced to skip or ration doses of insulin, which is life-threatening,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Thursday ahead of the bill’s passage. of law.
This legislation “paves the way” for further action to negotiate lower prices for drugs other than insulin, she noted.
Advocates of the legislation point to data from the Health Care Cost Institute, an independent nonprofit that studies health care prices. According to this organization, insulin prices doubled between 2012 and 2016.
For their part, those who oppose it believe that the cap alone is not enough to solve the underlying problem of rising prescription drug prices.
Under the bill, which passed by a majority partisan vote of 232 to 193, Medicare beneficiaries would pay no more than $35 for each 30-day insulin prescription.
For private plan beneficiaries, cost sharing would be limited to the lesser of $35 or 25% of the health plan’s negotiated price for a one-month prescription.
The insulin cap was originally part of sweeping health care reforms under the Democratic “Build Back Better” bill, which included limited negotiation of Medicare drugs.
However, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia’s opposition to the legislation stalled the broader bill.
Furthermore, while saving consumers thousands of dollars at the pharmacy, the bill does not reduce the overall price of insulin or solve the problem of skyrocketing drug prices. . It would only shift more of the cost onto insurers and employers.
Long targeted by lawmakers as the epitome of dysfunction in America’s healthcare system, insulin hasn’t changed much since its discovery over 100 years ago, but its price has climbed as new forms were introduced.
“Today in America we spend far more per capita on health care than any other nation, some $11,000 per person, at the same time some 60,000 Americans die each year because of do not have insurance and are unable to get to a doctor in time,” Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted.
“We need a health system for all,” added the Vermont Democrat, whose positions have always been for medical coverage that would support all citizens.
Sharing the conviction of Mr. Sanders, several senators today militate in favor of the “Affordable Insulin Now”, but its fate is still unclear, the Republicans being traditionally opposed to the price cap.
With MAP
