More Americans with diabetes will get a break on their insulin costs in 2024.

Sanofi is joining the nation’s two other major insulin manufacturers in offering either price caps or savings programs that lower the cost of the drugs to $35 for many patients. The three drugmakers are also drastically lowering the list prices for their products.

The moves were announced in the spring, but some didn’t take effect until January 1.

Drugmakers have come under fire for years for steeply raising the price of insulin, which is relatively inexpensive to produce. The inflation-adjusted cost of the medication has increased 24% between 2017 and 2022, and spending on insulin has tripled in the past decade to $22.3 billion in 2022, according to the American Diabetes Association.

Some 8.4 million Americans rely on insulin to survive, and as many as 1 in 4 patients have been unable to afford their medicine, leading them to ration doses – sometimes with fatal ramifications, according to the association.

  • @intensely_human@lemm.ee
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    -411 months ago

    I don’t think I should have to pay for others’ insulin. It’s great that our civilization has found a way to help diabetics live longer than they naturally would. In return for that, those diabetics can trade some of their money for it.

    I pay $175 every three months to see a psychiatrist. I also pay for my medication.

    I am extremely thankful that I have this option. I would far rather work a few more hours a month to be a functional person. That is a good deal. I don’t need anyone else to pay for it and I am extremely grateful to be born into a society that provides this stuff that I can trade my own work for.

    • @H4mi@lemm.ee
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      011 months ago

      Do you think you should pay taxes for firefighters? If so, what’s the difference in your opinion?

        • @H4mi@lemm.ee
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          211 months ago

          So you don’t use medical services? You just said you do, but you pay for them yourself.

          Why should you pay for firefighters putting out other people’s fires?