Californians can buy insulin pens for $55 per pack beginning Jan. 1
California to sell affordable insulin
A feisty new low cost competitor to big pharma. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday that California is announcing its own brand of insulin.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Californians will be able to buy five packs of insulin pens for a maximum of $55 per pack, or $11 per pen, starting Jan. 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday.
"Every Californian should be able to access life-saving medications without breaking the bank," he wrote, referring to the state-branded pens, CalRx.
Lawmakers at the state and federal level have focused in recent years on the high cost of insulin, and Newsom's announcement comes three years after he said California would address the high cost of insulin.
FILE ART- Insulin pen. (Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Newsom shared a CalMatters story that explained the pens are interchangeable with glargine, the generic alternative for Lantus, a once-a-day injection that regulates blood sugar.
An equivalent amount of Lantus sells to pharmacies for more than $92, according to data compiled by the governor’s office, but consumers may pay a different price based on their insurance.
Pharmacies in California will be able to buy the pens for $45, Newsom's office said, and be able to sell them for $10 more.
"California didn’t wait for the pharmaceutical industry to do the right thing — we took matters into our own hands," Newsom said in a statement. "No Californian should ever have to ration insulin or go into debt to stay alive."
Generics for other insulins will come in the future from CalRX's main supplier, Civica.
"Civica is a non-profit generic drug company. We were created by American hospitals to make sure that there is a safe, affordable, and reliable supply of medicine," said Alan Cockle, Civica RX’s spokesperson.
Other generics:
The war of Big Pharma will widen since CalRX has or is developing generic versions of albuterol inhalers, naloxone, reproductive health medications, and even diapers.
"This again is part of a new initiative to fund fundamentally lower healthcare costs. We are taking out the middlemen and we are fundamentally reducing the cost to individuals, ultimately expending that to taxpayers themselves," said Newsom.
"Cost is a limiting factor for a lot of our patients regardless of their insurance," said Stanford Health Care's Dr. Marilyn Tan, a certified Endocrinologist. The doctor says Forbes reported this. "Something like 80% of patients were afraid of not being able to pay for living expenses because of the cost of insulin," said Dr. Tan.
Roughly 3.5 million Californians have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.
"Today’s action marks a significant milestone in California’s ongoing efforts to reduce prescription drug costs," California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Kim Johnson said in a statement. "Lowering the cost of insulin moves us closer to a California where no one is forced to choose between their health and their financial stability."
What they're saying:
Insulin patients and their families are very grateful for the big price break.
"I have given myself 67.333 insulin injections, 76,952 finger pricks. I was once out of insulin for 5 hours and that put me into the ICU for two weeks," said patient Nikita Colombe Harris.
Even non-patient family members are affected. "Both my dad and my grandmother have lived with type 2 diabetes for as long as I can remember and it has become as much a part of our daily routine as eating breakfast and brushing our teeth," said Grace Fang, a Yorba Linda High School Senior.