Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
White House: Medicare to give break on insulin
WASHINGTON — Medicare recipients will be able to get prescription plans that limit copays for insulin, a potential savings of hundreds of dollars, the White House announced Tuesday in a pivot to pocketbook issues that could influence November’s election.
The new benefit — to be formally unveiled at a Rose Garden event Tuesday afternoon — is being touted as a major accomplishment by administration officials eager to change the subject from the grim coronavirus pandemic news.
Older adults who pick a drug plan offering the new insulin benefit would pay a maximum of $35 a month starting next year, a savings estimated at $446 annually.
Fluctuating cost-sharing amounts that are common now would be replaced by a manageable amount.
The new insulin benefit will be voluntary, so during open enrollment this fall Medicare recipients who are interested must make sure to pick an insurance plan that provides it. Most people with Medicare will have access to them.
Stable copays for insulin are the result of a deal shepherded by the administration between insulin manufacturers and major insurers, Medicare chief Seema Verma told The Associated Press. The three major suppliers, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, were all involved.
“It was a delicate negotiation,” Verma said.
Drugmakers and insurers have been at odds in recent years, blaming one another for high prices.
“I do think this is a big step,” she said.
The deal comes as President Donald Trump returns to the issue of drug prices, trying to woo older people whose votes are crucial to his reelection prospects.
The cost of insulin is one of the biggest worries for consumers concerned about high prices for brand name drugs. Millions of people with diabetes use insulin to keep their blood sugars within normal ranges and stave off complications that can include heart disease, blindness, kidney failure and amputations. People with diabetes also suffer worse outcomes from COVID-19.
Trump last week told Republican senators at a Capitol Hill meeting he still wants to pass a bill this year to lower drug costs, saying “I think you have to do it,” according to a summary from an attendee. Bipartisan legislation to limit price increases and reduce costs for older people with high drug bills is pending in the Senate.
An AP-NORC poll in May found that 54% of adults 60 and older said they disapproved of how Trump is handling his job as president, while 45% approved.
The fate of drug pricing legislation ultimately seems to rest with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has a much more ambitious plan for Medicare to negotiate prices for the costliest drugs, not just insulin. Pelosi would use expected savings to provide vision, dental and hearing coverage for older adults. Most Republicans oppose that approach as an expansion of government price-setting.
Although the White House and Pelosi’s office were in conversations last year about prescription drug legislation, the relationship between the two leaders has been tense and angry for months.