Last week, we discussed here a controversy about former President Trump’s policy regarding insulin. Today, we continue that story into the administration of the incumbent, President Joseph Biden.
The Story:
The Biden administration’s “Build Back Better” bill, before Congress, includes a provision that would have the effect of capping prices for insulin, a life-sustaining medicine for millions of Americans. Should the proposal become law, no individual with diabetes will be required to spend more than $35 a month if they receive healthcare financing either through the government or a private health insurance company.
History:
In 1923 Frederick Banting, a Canadian physician, and two associates, Charles Best and James Collop, received the U.S. patent on insulin. In a grand gesture, they sold it for $1 to the University of Toronto, because they took the view that they should not profit from it, that insulin “belongs to the world.”
Today in the US, three pharmaceutical companies, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi-Aventis and Eli Lilly supply most of the insulin market. Insulin brings them billions of dollars in profit a year.
In Pill Form:
The Build Back Better provision works as a co-pay cap, not a direct price cap. If an insulin user is uninsured, even if a usually-insured user misses a premium and loses insurance coverage for a period, the price of his insulin during that uncovered period will not be affected by the law. In such a situation, a single vial of insulin costs $300 for the uninsured. A typical patient may need about two vials per month.
