editorial | Build on Insulin Potency Improvement
Opinion Editor’s Note: editorial Stars represent the opinion of the Tribune editorial board, which operates independently of the newsroom.
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Access to insulin can be a matter of life or death for people with diabetes, a disease with which more than 37 million Americans live. But the drug’s rising price could put it dangerously out of reach for those who need it.
According to an analysis published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings in 2020, “the price of insulin has risen at a rate far greater than the rate of inflation over the past 20 years.” “A vial of Humalog, which cost $21 in 1999, cost $332, in 2019, representing a price increase of more than 1000%.”
Certainly the price of other drugs has also increased during this period. Ideally, Congress would swiftly pass a measure to ensure that all drugs are affordable. But this is not realistic given the deepening political divide and deep pockets of pharmaceutical industry lobbyists.
For those whose lives depend on it, it is possible to pass a targeted reform to help make insulin more affordable. This spring, there was laudable momentum to implement such reform, with the US House passing the Affordable Insulin Now Act, championed by Representative Angie Craig, a Minnesota Democrat.
The challenge now is to sustain that moment and ensure that the Senate also works on insulin affordability this year. This would be no small feat after another medical issue – the US Supreme Court opinion leaked about abortion. This high-profile issue is important, but it should not affect other urgent health care reforms, such as access to insulin.
Craig’s leadership on insulin is commendable. In 2017, the death of a young Minnesotan tragically exposed the nation’s insulin cost crisis. Alec Smith, 26, had turned his age shortly before his mother’s health plan. He could not afford the insulin and died after trying to ration it.
Minnesota legislators reacted with compassionate common sense in 2020 when they passed the state’s pioneering emergency insulin assistance bill. Those who meet its appropriate eligibility guidelines can quickly get a 30-day supply from a local pharmacy for $35. Other states, such as Colorado, have also passed insulin affordability measures.
But access to this important drug shouldn’t depend on where you live. That’s why federal reform covering all 50 states is so important.
Craig’s bill, if enacted, would cost insured individuals out-of-pocket insulin at $35 a month. An important caveat: that price range only applies to people with health insurance. It doesn’t get to the root of the rising cost of insulin.
This bill is not a panacea, Craig admitted in an interview with an editorial writer. Even so, it’s still a strong move and will help many families struggling with the cost of insulin, which can be daunting even for those who have health insurance.
“The average commercial insurance plan in my district … they’re paying up to $300 per month or $400 for their insulin. So to be able to cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 a month ,” Craig said, “will be life-changing for people who have access to insurance.”
All of Minnesota’s Republican House of Representatives voted against Craig’s bill. All House Democrats in the state voted for it. Two US senators from Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, both Democrats, are co-sponsors of the Senate fellow bill. Smith has also supported a federal emergency insulin assistance bill similar to Minnesota’s pioneering reform.
The Senate’s companion bill to Craig’s law could face an uphill battle in a closely divided chamber. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, “the insulin-only bill would need 60 votes instead of a simple majority to pass in the Senate.”
Other insulin cost reforms are under consideration in the Senate that could expand bipartisan support. Families struggling to afford insulin can’t wait. There is an urgent need for action and bipartisanship.
