US Senate to vote on bipartisan law to cap insulin at $35 per month

Robert Besser
26 Jun 2022, 09:25 GMT+10

Bipartisan legislation aimed at lowering U.S. insulin costs will be put to a vote on the Senate floor "very soon," U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said
The legislation, sponsored by Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Senator Susan Collins, was announced this week
Schumer will need at least 10 of the 50 Republicans in the narrowly divided senate to support the bill, assuming it is supported by all 50 senators in the Democratic caucus

WASHINGTON D.C.: Bipartisan legislation aimed at lowering U.S. insulin costs will be put to a vote on the Senate floor "very soon," U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said this week.

"The cost of insulin has skyrocketed in recent years and the Insulin Act will make this life-saving medication more affordable by capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month. I will put this bipartisan legislation on the Senate floor very soon," Schumer said in a statement.

The legislation, sponsored by Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Republican Senator Susan Collins, was announced this week.

Schumer will need at least 10 of the 50 Republicans in the narrowly divided senate to support the bill, assuming it is supported by all 50 senators in the Democratic caucus.

According to the American Diabetes Association, some 8.4 million of the 37 million people in the United States with diabetes use insulin.

A 2021 report on drug prices by health information company IQVIA, said one in five insured Americans pay more than $35 per month for insulin, while the remainder pay about $23 per month.

The U.S. insulin market has long been dominated by three companies, Sanofi SA, Eli Lilly and Co and Novo Nordisk, which own some 90 percent of the market.

As senators were drafting a wider bill that also provided incentives for drugmakers to lower list prices, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar bill capping monthly out-of-pocket insulin costs for those with health insurance at $35.