America's Benefit Specialist July 2023

INSULIN PRICES CAPPED BY ELI LILLY

By Scott M. Stevens, RHU, CDHC Dodge Partners Insurance Omaha, Nebraska sstevens@dodgepartners.com

After a six-year legal battle, drug maker Eli Lilly has agreed to a settlement valued at up to $500 million. Relatively recently, Congress has taken a keen interest in some of the practices of both manufacturers of prescription drugs and so-called pharmacy benefit managers. Eli Lilly is one of the nation’s oldest manufacturers of prescription drugs, and is largely identified by its introduction of Prozac to market in 1988.

Let’s look at the details of the settlement, which benefits virtually anyone who was prescribed insulin made by Eli Lilly from January 1, 2009, to the date of the settlement’s final approval. The amount of the settlement consists of two sep arate aspects: 1. A four-year period of time whereby Eli Lilly will place a price cap of $35 on certain brands of insulin. It is estimat ed that this price cap will save American consumers up to $500 million over the four-year period. (Note: Eli Lilly currently manufactures several different branded insulin products. The settlement specifically addresses the brands Humalog, Humulin and Basaglar.) 2. A $13.5 million fund accessible by people no longer using the affected insulin products, and/or those enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid programs. (This fund will also be used to pay for related administrative and legal fees associ ated with the settlement.)

ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION, THE PRICE OF INSULIN TRIPLED BETWEEN 2002 AND 2013.

16 ABS | benefitspecialistmagazine.com