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Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
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Aug 7 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Insulin. Moments ago. US Senate #Insulin4All
57 votes is more than I thought. But unfortunately it did not pass for those with private insurance. Needed 60 votes because of the point of order. Capping insulin to $35 is not going to happen for those with insurance.
Still hoping for a miracle. @DemFromCT — your comment gives me some hope.

Watching. More on insulin here.
Insulin prices will be lower for patients on Medicare if all goes well. Fingers crossed.
Not hypothetical. I heard a really sad story even yesterday. More here.

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More from @VincentRK

Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Aug 9
Patients with cancers such as myeloma and CLL will benefit greatly from new changes:

Out of pocket costs will be capped at $2000 starting 2025. A game changer. kff.org/medicare/issue… Image
Patients will start seeing benefit even in 2024. Patients pay 5% of the cost of the drug once they’ve spent about $7000 a year (the catastrophic threshold).

It’s not hard to hit catastrophic threshold quickly when drugs cost $15,000 a month.

This 5% cost sharing ends in 2024
But if copays are capped and Medicare cannot negotiate it will allow Pharma to hike prices even more rapidly. Why?

Coz it will effectively silence the most important voice against unreasonably high drug prices: the voice of patients. Since their cost will stay constant.
Read 5 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Aug 8
While patients with diabetes may feel let down and disappointed there are some reasons for hope for lower priced modern analog insulins.

1) @CivicaRx a non profit drug manufacturer is working to manufacture insulin.
2) California announced it will manufacture insulin. @reoxoo cnbc.com/amp/2022/07/08…
3) The US plan to keep insulin price to $35 for Medicare beneficiaries is still intact. It is part of the historic healthcare reforms passed yesterday.
Read 9 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Aug 7
Breaking: Finally it has happened. Senate has passed a bill that is almost certain to become law. What it does:

1) Allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices
2) Prevents price increases on drugs Medicare buys..
3) Caps out-of-pocket drug costs for seniors to max of $2000 per year
1) Medicare negotiation is critical. It is what all other developed countries do. I welcome this even though it s more modest than I wanted.
2) Preventing the ability of drug companies to increase prices on the same drug year after year is huge. This is something that will greatly benefit seniors and the public. What happened in the last decade, see below, will be slowed down.
Read 10 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Aug 7
If you want to know how powerful Pharma lobbying is, look no further than insulin.#Insulin4All

Though insulin costs 10 times more than in other countries, is needed for survival in diabetes, despite countless articles written, let’s see how many oppose capping the price to $35.
Insulin prices compared to prices of other things we use as well illustrated by @lollydaggle years ago.

Some states have acted. have introduced the oxymoronic idea of “authorized generics”. But we need a national solution.
Insulin is the Achilles heel of Pharma and PBMs. There is absolutely no justification.

mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-…
Read 10 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Aug 6
Breaking: The Senate Parliamentarian has OK’d most of the provisions for prescription drug reform in the bill.

Means:
-Medicare will negotiate.
-Copays for seniors will be capped at $2000 per year. huffpost.com/entry/bc-us-co…
Medicare negotiation is critical for controlling prescription drug prices. A huge first step. @ASlavitt @DavidP4AD
Capping copays for seniors at $2000 per year is huge. Seniors are being crushed by high prescription drug prices.
Read 14 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Aug 5
118 of the nations leading oncologists call for Medicare negotiation of prescription drug prices— as far back as 2015! Read the petition. @MayoProceedings

As people who lead trials of new drugs we know what hurts innovation and what doesn't.

1/
 mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-…
This list includes a Who's Who of oncologists. The ones who led countless clinical trials for new cancer drugs. We know the game. @DrHKantarjian @CliffordHudis @MorieGertz @DrJulieVose @rosslevinemd
2/ Image
Medicare negotiation is good not only for seniors but the entire public.

We will have more truly innovative and effective drugs because Pharma will not have the easy way out that it currently does of high prices regardless of how good a drug is.
3/
Read 6 tweets

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