OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The top three insulin producers are now slashing their prices following years of pressure from advocates and more recently the Biden administration.
French company Sanofi is the latest to say it'll cap insulin costs at $35 a month for people with private insurance.
It joins Eli Lilly and Dutch company Novo Nordisk in capping monthly costs at $35.
3 News Now Anchor Mary Nelson talked to a health policy expert and adviser to the president about the impact.
“Insulin is a life-saving medication that costs just $10 a vial to make and yet, we've seen years of drug companies hiking their prices and making this medication unaffordable for folks. As a result, we hear horror stories about people rationing this drug, borrowing from family members, making impossible choices between putting food on the table and getting the medication that they need to stay alive. It's an entirely unacceptable situation. It's why the president has been working so hard to lower drug costs across the board and why we are really pleased to see the private sector responding to the President's call to action and lowering their costs,” said Dep. Asst. to the President Christen Linke Young, Health and Veterans Affairs.
According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 37 million Americans have diabetes.
In Iowa, that number exceeds 242,000 or nearly 10% of adults. It's also estimated that 70,000 more people have it but haven't been diagnosed.
In Nebraska, more than 141,000 people have been diagnosed. That's 9.6% of adults and about 44,000 more people are living unknowingly with diabetes.
As for the financial costs, the association estimated it's $2.6 billion each year in Iowa and $1.4 billion in Nebraska.
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