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Insulin is a life-saving medication for millions of Americans who live with diabetes. As the price of insulin has risen, people who depend on insulin have had to make difficult decisions about whether to pay for their medication or other necessities. Some have been forced to ration their supply, with devastating results. Recent legislation has limited insulin out-of-pocket...

Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects over 10% of the U.S. population. It is possible for people  who are diagnosed with diabetes to live a healthy, long life if the condition is managed properly. However, management often involves significant health care use, which can be costly for patients. Over the past few months, we used HCCI's commercial claims dataset to e...

Previously, HCCI analyzed prescription drug spending to understand how many insulin users with employer sponsored insurance (ESI) would be affected by a $35 monthly cap on patient out-of-pocket spending on insulin. Our estimates were based on average monthly out-of-pocket spending on insulin across all insulin products. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) recently passed by Congress includes a $35 p...

The International Federation of Health Plans (iFHP), an executive network of the global health insurance industry based in London, in partnership with the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) in the United States, and iFHP member companies in multiple countries, today published the latest International Health Cost Comparison Report. The report compares the median prices paid by a sample of private he...

Over 10% of the U.S. population— more than 34 million individuals— lives with diabetes, with 1.5 million new cases diagnosed each year. As people with diabetes manage this chronic condition, they often pay substantial amounts out of their own pockets on medical care and prescription medications. Using HCCI's unique health care claims dataset, this brief illustrates the impact of diabetes on the us...

HCCI's research on insulin prices was featured in a Healthcare Dive brief on California's plan to manufacture its own insulin. From the article: "The Health Care Cost Institute found nearly 9% of patients with private insurance paid an average of $403 per month for their insulin in 2019."  California to manufacture its own insulin, Newsom says | Healthcare Dive Healthcare https://www.healthca...

Previous HCCI analysis documented rapid growth in insulin spending over the 2012-17 period. High out-of-pocket spending may deter adherence to insulin among individuals with diabetes, with potentially fatal effects. In this blog, we update our analysis of out-of-pocket insulin spending to 2019 using HCCI's unique commercial claims dataset, which includes prescription drug claims for 29 millio...

HCCI's research on insulin prices was featured in USA Today. From the article: "The lower-cost insulin is being released by Walmart in response to surging costs for the treatment used for patients with diabetes. According to the Health Care Cost Institute, a non-profit organization which sheds light on health care spending, the average price for an insulin prescription nearly doubled from 2012 ($3...

HCCI's research on the price of insulin was featured in CNBC.  From the article: "As the number of people with diabetes climbs, the cost of the 100-year-old drug has soared rather than fallen and drawn scrutiny from lawmakers. The annual cost of insulin for people with Type 1 diabetes in the U.S. nearly doubled from $2,900 in 2012 to $5,700 in 2016, according to the most recent data available...

HCCI's research on insulin prices was cited by Kaiser Health News.   From the article:  "Patients who need insulin have faced huge cost spikes. A 2019 report by the Health Care Cost Institute concluded that average prices for insulin doubled from 2012 to 2016." California Rx: State May Dive Into Generic Drug Market | Kaiser Health News California could become the first state to deve...

HCCI's research on insulin prices was featured in a Bloomberg Law article.  From the article: "The inventor who discovered insulin in the 1920s famously sold the patent to the University of Toronto for $1 in the hope that anyone who needed it could afford it.In the years since, the four most common types of insulin have seen their prices soar, with the average price per month rising to $...

HCCI's work on insulin pricing was cited in a Boston Globe article.  From the article:  "Following similar efforts in Colorado and Minnesota, the Senate bill also targets the costs of insulin, a commonly used drug that has become increasingly unaffordable for many patients. On average, the price of all types of insulin roughly doubled between 2012 and 2016, according to the Washington-ba...

We previously published two blogs discussing trends in out-of-pocket spending on insulin products. First, we presented data illustrating how average monthly out-of-pocket spending in 2017 varied considerably by month, particularly for individuals enrolled in consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) that carry higher deductibles. Second, we examined the relationship between increasing point-of-sale p...

Earlier this week we presented data on out-of-pocket spending on insulin during each month in 2017. In that blog, we showed that enrollees in employer-sponsored health insurance paid more out-of-pocket for insulin products at the beginning of the calendar year. We examined the relationship between increasing point-of-sale prices for insulin and higher out-of-pocket spending in January for a subset...

People who get health insurance through their jobs pay more than twice as much for insulin at the beginning of the year than they do at the end of the year, on average. New analysis of HCCI data shows that, nationally, in January 2017, average out-of-pocket spending on insulin was $105. This spending declined every month throughout the calendar year, likely as enrollees met their annual deductible...

HCCI's research on insulin prices was mentioned in a CNBC report. From the article: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 30 million Americans have diabetes. The annual cost of insulin for people with Type 1 diabetes in the U.S. nearly doubled from 2012 to 2016 to $5,700 from $2,900, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Health Care Cost Institute. Eli L...

The Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) is proud to present five posters at the AcademyHealth 2019 Annual Research Meeting in Washington, D.C. These posters, which cover HCCI research on a wide variety of topics, focus on health care spending and utilization trends among the commercially insured population. If you are attending the conference, please check out the schedule below to meet our staff an...

HCCI's research on rising insulin list prices was recently cited by The New York Times in its reporting on Express Scripts' new plan to offer a $25 cap for month insulin. From the article: "Consumers whose drug benefits are managed by Express Scripts could see their out-of-pocket costs for insulin limited to $25 a month under a plan announced on Wednesday. The move is aimed at addressing rising an...

HCCI's recent report on rising insulin prices was cited in support of congressional  inquiries into drug pricing. This included a letter from U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) to executives at Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi requesting information on insulin pricing.  Additionally, HCCI's research on emergency care was cited in a letter from U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA)&nb...

 HCCI's recent report on trends in rising insulin prices received additional media coverage in the last week in outlets including NBC, CBS, CNN, The New York Times, The Hill, U.S. News & World Report, and USA Today.  From CNN: "Congress and the Trump administration continue to push for a drug pricing plan and were given more ammunition Tuesday in the form of a report documenting...

​HCCI's latest research on rising insulin prices was recently featured in Reuters. HCCI's report detailed both use and price trends of insulin used by those with type 1 diabetes from 2012 to 2016. Per Reuters article: "A person with type 1 diabetes incurred annual insulin costs of $5,705, on average, in 2016. The average cost was roughly half that at $2,864 per patient in 2012, according to a...

We used health care claims data to investigate trends in total health care spending on individuals with type 1 diabetes between 2012 and 2016. We found a rapid increase in total health care spending, driven primarily by gross spending on insulin that doubled over the period. During that time insulin use rose only modestly. While the composition of insulins used shifted, the price of all types of i...

In honor of National Diabetes Month, our inaugural blog post focuses on a topic of particular interest to people with diabetes: the price of insulin. Insulin is the hormone responsible for the body's ability to use sugar and prevent dangerously high and potentially deadly levels of blood sugar. Diabetics are unable to make enough insulin to support their bodies' needs, and thus many are dependent ...

 By: Carmen Heredia Rodriguez  Childhood diabetes rates are on the rise, and a report released Monday pointed to the impact that the cost of their care could have on families — even those who have employer-sponsored health insurance. The study, conducted by the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), found that children as old as 18 with diabetes who were insured through an employer-sponsored...

By: Christopher Snowbeck  Per capita spending on patients with diabetes hit $16,021 in 2014, which was an increase of about 6 percent or $897 from the previous year, according to a report released Monday. The average person in an employer plan during 2014, meanwhile, wracked up $4,396 in medical spending, which was up 3 percent compared with the previous year. The numbers come from the Health...