Rising Cost of Insulin in the US

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Wisconsin Public Television has a broadcast worth viewing about the financial challenges of living with Type 1 diabetes. A profile on a Wisconsin woman, Julia, notes that in the U.S., a three-month supply of insulin costs a patient $1,800, some 6 to 10 times higher than the cost of insulin just across the Canadian border. “We do not have a choice. We have to buy it, or we die,” said Julia. Her story has rallied more than 50,000 people to sign a petition to make insulin more affordable in Wisconsin.

A nationwide movement is building against outrageous profiteering by insulin manufacturers — **insulin prices have become so expensive that an estimated 1 in 4 people with diabetics skip or ration their doses, and many have gotten sick or died as a direct result of these costs. Petitions have been circulating to cap the price of insulin. Please visit Change.org to sign petitions in Wisconsin, Georgia, Indiana, and West Virginia. Prices have already been reduced by public actions in states like Colorado, and activity is expected to pick up in other states as well.

The three largest pharmaceutical companies, Eli Lilly, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk have made more than $12 billion in profits in 2014, largely from increased prices on insulin. Sign this petition to Sanofi to Make Insulin Affordable.(https://www.change.org/p/sanofi-make-insulin-affordable)

For reference, the cost to manufacture a bottle of insulin is about $6, and the same bottles of current insulins sell for about $35 in Canada, Japan, and Australia. Please sign and get mobilized in your state. In the coming 2020 election, we also encourage you to vote only for candidates who support some form of health care insurance for all, and against anyone who wants to take away health care from people like us who happen to have a pre-existing condition.

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2 thoughts on “Rising Cost of Insulin in the US”

  1. didn’t know about this site until today, will look at it weekly. I’m dealing with the very high cost of Toujeo Max this month at 700.00 for my prescription. Looking to possibly changing to Lantus. Any help is appreciated. Thanks
    Shari
    Yuma, AZ

    Reply
    • Hi Shari, If you have not already done so, get the GoodRx app that compares pharmacy prices very nicely. On the price page, scroll to the bottom where manufacturer discounts are shown. Substantial manufacturer discounts can often be found this way, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Call and wait on the listed phone, or visit Sanofi-Aventis directly at https://www.toujeo.com/ and look for their discount information.

      An alternate way to get a MAJOR discount is to buy Novolin NPH at Walmart (usually ~$35 a bottle) and then inject this shorter-acting insulin in 2 or 3 doses that equal 1/2 or 1/3 respectively of your total Tujeo daily dose.
      Best regards,
      John

      Reply

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