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What Provisions Can We Take to Make Insulin Affordable for Every American?
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The United States of America fares better than most countries in terms of health and wellness; however, according to a study entitled “New CDC Report: More than 100 Million Americans Have Diabetes or Prediabetes,” there are approximately 30 million American citizens that suffer from diabetes. In addition, 80 million other Americans are affected by prediabetes, which is a precursing stage that develops into type 2 diabetes. That means one-third of the American population must purchase insulin due to their body being unable to produce it. Despite this statistic appearing rather tame, there is a lingering problem that has not yet been faced: Americans are charged too much for insulin. The cost of insulin in 2017 is nearly $10,000 a year per person on insulin costs alone (Petersen Matthew P. pp 917) and because of this, I believe that insulin should be cheaper. Diabetics need this medication to not only live a normal, average life, but to survive. Without a cheaper solution, diabetic Americans are faced with undeniable disadvantages, including being at risk for short-term health consequences, death, and the inability to support a family—due completely to the inevitable increase in their cost of living.
Diabetes burdens the afflicted person with inconvenient medical conditions, due to both economic struggles and lack of medicine. A study by William T. Cefalu, et al. entitled “Insulin Access and Affordability Working Group: Conclusions and Recommendations” from The American Diabetes Association shows how medical expenses have limitless effects on those affected by the disease. This study states that there are only three insulin producers in the United States, which immediately make the product’s price increase due to supply and demand (Cefalu, et al. pp 1300-1301). However, there are various people who cannot afford to keep up with these costs. Price inflation causes an indirect hinderance on a diabetic’s wellbeing, inevitably causing fatigue, blurry vision, and slow-healing sores, and in many cases even death due to a lack of medication. While these are symptoms of the disease, they are only a problem if the individual does not receive medicine. However, those who pay the higher cost of insulin may develop genuine health problems caused by a lack of money to afford other necessities. These issues include a lack of food, water, and other basic needs that we take for granted. However, is insulin truly worth its price? Is it out of the question to ask if it could be produced at a lower cost? In recent years the net price of insulin has only increased due to higher demand, leading to price changes as high as 52% (Cefalu, et al. pp 1301-1302). Another layer of this abhorrent increase is that the list price, or the maximum a consumer may pay, has increased anywhere between 138 percent up to 352 percent.
There is no doubt that diabetics naturally have an economic disadvantage after receiving treatment. A study done by Matthew P. Peterson at the ADA shows that in total, insulin costs the American population 327 billion dollars per year (Peterson pp. 917). This means the average American affected by diabetes spends approximately 15,000 dollars a year, 9,000 of which is for the insulin, on medical expenses (Peterson pp. 917). With the average economic income for an adult in the US being between 50 and 60 thousand dollars, insulin takes a significant chunk out of someone’s ability to pay bills on time. But why do we have this problem? In Mexico and Canada, the price of insulin is significantly cheaper. An article written by Robin Cressman “Crossing Borders to Afford Insulin” Tells the story of how she went to Mexico to buy insulin. To her surprise the pharmacy sold the insulin, uninsured and no prescription, for as low as 182 dollars (Cressman). The problem with this is that the FDA does not allow prescription drugs to be imported from foreign countries, even if they are our neighbors. To solve the insulin problem, we need to push legislation to force companies to lower their costs. Insulin is not that expensive to make, why are we letting it continue to increase in cost? How many people in congress are even discussing insulin? The answer is simple, not enough. Forcing big companies to stop exploiting the American public is one of the only ways we could solve this issue.
There is an alternate solution to insulin prices that is deemed to be much faster than legislation and cheaper than todays insulin. In 1923, the original patent for insulin was sold by Canadian scientist Frederick Banting to the University of Toronto for a one dollar—monumentally cheaper than what it would be sold for today with the intent of insulin being freely available to all, as evidence shows how easily the price of one diabetic’s insulin can cost. Times are now on the brink of changing. As of 2018, Dana Howe, a biologist and expert in health communication from Teft University, has created a mathematical comparison to insulin (and its prices) with a product named “biosimilar,” a far cheaper alternative to insulin that serves the same purpose as the aforementioned. Howe calculated insulin’s production cost a year per person versus a biosimilar’s price, and her conclusions showed that biosimilar could cost less than $130 a year for treatment—a whopping $5,870 dollars cheaper than insulin per year and even cheaper than Mexico’s answer (Cressman). However, if treatment for all can be achieved at such a microscopic level, why is it not being pursued? The answer is simple: money. This blockade is credited to ongoing patent lawsuits against biosimilars from money-hungry insulin producers that are fighting to keep their products in demand—and that demand does not implement the use of biosimilar, whether or not it benefits the American people most (Howe). Since the foundation of insulin itself scientists have been trying to find easier and better long-term solutions for insulin (Tibaldi, pp 25-38). The easiest solution is to fight against corporate’s selling of insulin and to begin to back biosimilar with better funding.
With one-third of the American population being diabetic, it is impossible for any American not to know of a friend, relative, or significant other with diabetes. A cheaper solution to an insulin price-crisis means that we would no longer have to helplessly watch these loved ones face short-term health consequences, the inability to support a family, and/or an unfair, high cost of living. Insulin can and should be cheaper in the United States, it’s up to us as citizens to demand that this issue be settled federally. It is time to take the next step for those we care about; whether that includes helping them in day-to-day life or saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of their lifetime, it is time to change.
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Works Cited
Cefalu, William T., et al. “Insulin Access and Affordability Working Group: Conclusions and Recommendations.” Diabetes Care, vol. 41, no. 6, 8 June 2018, pp. 1299–1311. doi:10.2337/dci18-0019. Accessed 11 March 2019.
“New CDC Report: More than 100 Million Americans Have Diabetes or Prediabetes.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 July 2017, www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p0718-diabetes-report.html. Accessed 3 March 2019.
Tibaldi, Joseph M. “Evolution of Insulin: From Human to Analog.” The American Journal of Medicine, vol. 127, no. 10, 2014, pp. 25—38 doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2014.07.005. Accessed 4 March 2019.
Howe, Dana. “How Much Does It Cost to Produce Insulin?” Beyond Type 1, 12 Mar. 2019, beyondtype1.org/how-much-does-it-cost-to-produce-insulin/. Accessed 4 March 2019.
Petersen, Matthew P. “Economic Costs of Diabetes in the U.S. in 2017.” Diabetes Care, vol. 41, no. 5, 22 May 2018, pp. 917–928., doi:10.2337/dci18-0007. Accessed 22 March 2019.
Cressman, Robin. “Crossing Borders to Afford Insulin.” T1International, 16 Aug. 2018, 3:18 pm, www.t1international.com/blog/2018/08/16/crossing-borders-afford-insulin/. Accessed 24 March 2019.
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