Insulin capped at $35 per month for Minnesotans, after settlement with manufacturers
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Minnesotans prescribed insulin won’t pay more than $35 per month for it, after the conclusion of a lawsuit against three major drug manufacturers.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced a settlement Monday with manufacturer Novo Nordisk. All the company’s insulin products will be capped for both insured and uninsured customers with prescriptions.
Last February, Ellison announced a settlement with Eli Lilly capping prices at $35 a month; he settled with Sanofi in July. The settlement with Novo Nordisk concludes the lawsuit. Together, he said, the three companies provide most of the insulin products on the market.
“We cannot lose one more person to the unconscionably high cost that these lifesaving drugs have been demanding,” Ellison said.
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The attorney general’s office sued three major insulin manufacturers in 2018, alleging they were artificially inflating drug prices. Before the settlement, Ellison says diabetes patients were paying $800 a month on average for their insulin.
Advocates for lower insulin prices celebrated the news. Nicole Smith-Holt has spoken out about high costs for seven years, since her son, Alec Smith, died when he couldn’t afford his insulin.
Smith was charged over $1,000 a month for insulin. The 26-year-old had just stopped using his mother’s health insurance. He started rationing insulin and died of ketoacidosis in early 2017.
“There is a long list of people who have died from complications or from rationing,” Smith-Holt said. “We have come a long way in Minnesota.”
Quinn Nystrom, another affordable insulin advocate, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child.
“Insulin is not an optional medication. It is our life support,” Nystrom said. “Without insulin, I die.”
Novo Nordisk manufactures insulin products like NovoLog, Tresiba, Fiasp and Novolin.
Novo Nordisk will also provide free insulin to qualifying patients below a certain income level. Sanofi has a similar program, according to its settlement; Eli Lilly is providing free insulin to several clinics in the state.
The settlement will last five years. Ellison said that buys lawmakers time to come up with a permanent solution and ensure prices don’t jump again.
“One thing’s for sure about these five years – it proves that insulin doesn't cost as much, and their $1,100 price increases are completely unjustified,” Ellison said.
The attorney general’s office keeps a web page with information on how Minnesotans can get insulin for $35 a month, plus resources for free insulin.