New directive aims to lower insulin costs in Michigan
(CBS DETROIT) - For people living with diabetes, access to insulin can be a matter of life or death.
Central City Integrated Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Wash says high insulin prices leave some patients in a bind.
"When a person has to choose between whether they need to eat or whether they need to take their insulin, they're going to go for what's immediate and immediate is hunger," Wash said.
"So they may have huge copays of $300 and $400 a month for some of the basic insulin."
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive directive to help drive costs down for over 900,000 people affected in Michigan, partly by developing and distributing the drug in the state.
"When you have to simply go to the emergency room to get medication or be admitted because your blood pressure or your glucose level or your sugar level is too high, that becomes an unnecessary trip, especially when it can be handled by your primary care physician," Wash said.
According to the directive, U.S. patients pay up to 10 times more for insulin than diabetics in other countries.
Back in August, lawmakers in Washington passed the Inflation Reductive Act that includes a provision to cap insulin co-pays at $35 per vial for Medicare recipients, excluding private insurance plans.
The current average price of insulin is $98 a vial.
"For those who are insulin-dependent, it is definitely very crucial because their body in itself is not able to produce the insulin that is needed to take the sugar out of the blood," Wash said.
Insulin is the most common treatment for Type 1 diabetes and can sometimes be used to treat Type 2.
Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S.