Yesterday, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (FL14) took action to lower costs for families by voting for the passage of the Affordable Insulin Now Act. 

“One of the most important ways to cut costs for American families is through reigning in the high cost of prescription drugs, especially the high cost of insulin. Good news – the Affordable Insulin Now Act lowers insulin prices so that Americans with diabetes don’t pay more than $35 per month for their insulin,” Castor said. “This is a long-overdue, all-American proposition that makes sure everyone can afford the cost of their prescription drugs and have access to the care they need.”

“At any age you’re living with this disease, it impacts your life in every single way, and on top of that we have the high costs of insulin,” said Emmabella Rudd, diabetic patient and Florida State University public health student from Tampa Bay. Emmabella was part of a virtual gathering U.S. Rep. Castor held yesterday with Florida Sen. Janet Cruz, USF experts Dr. Kevin Sneed (Dean of the USF Taneja College of Pharmacy) and Dr. Henry Rodriguez (Clinical Director of the USF Diabetes Center). 

“During my time at FSU, I’ve delivered insulin to students who can’t afford insulin. At all times, they call me and ask, ‘do you have insulin to spare?’”

Currently, Americans pay more than 10 times for insulin than other similar high income countries and 1 in 4 Americans who rely on insulin have reported having to cut back or skip doses due to rising costs.  In a recent study, insulin out-of-pocket costs among all insulin users averaged $64 in 2017, almost double what the out-of-pocket costs would be with H.R. 6833. 

“If we had the very same price increase [for gas] that we’ve had with insulin over a 20-25 year period, we would be paying $20/gallon. We can’t get to a point where people cannot afford a life-saving therapeutic--$300/$400 being a norm for insulin really is almost criminal,” Dr. Sneed said.

“As too many of our neighbors are facing rising costs, people are having to make tough choices between medicine, food, gas and housing costs,” Castor continued.  “The price of prescription drugs are astronomical, and the cost of insulin is particularly scandalous.  I am proud that we were able to take action today to help lower costs for the more than 7 million Americans that rely on insulin. I urge the Senate to quickly move to consider this common-sense legislation.”

Beginning in 2023, the bill requires private health plans to cover at least one of each type and dosage form of insulin and caps cost-sharing for a 30-day supply at the lesser of $35 or 25 percent of a plan’s negotiated price. The bill also requires all Medicare prescription drug plans to cap cost-sharing for insulin at no more than $35 per month.

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