More than 37 million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with diabetes. The disease can damage organs, eyesight, and limbs if left unmanaged and is the country's seventh leading cause of death.
Just three pharmaceutical corporations control the nation's lucrative insulin market, the century-old drug can cost a person without adequate health insurance more than $300 per vial. Insulin prices in the U.S.—seven times higher than those found in peer countries—are so steep that experts have accused the federal government and pharmaceutical industry of violating human rights. A quarter of people with diabetes have to ration insulin to survive in the U.S.A.
Legislation passed by the House and considered by the Senate last year included language that would have made all insulin products subject to Medicare price negotiation and that would have capped Medicare beneficiaries' insulin copays at $35 per month.
Both provisions have been left out of the latest draft of the bill released by the Senate Finance Committee, however.
Excluding Insulin From Drug Price Reform a 'Slap in the Face,' Advocates Say (commondreams.org)
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