Share this page!

Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Twitter logo
Aug 12 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Insulin will cost no more than $35 per month starting 2023 for Medicare beneficiaries thanks to the #InflationReductionAct

Unfortunately the $35 cap won’t apply to those on private insurance. It was blocked by a procedural move. cnbc.com/amp/2022/08/09…
About 1 in 5 diabetics needing insulin who have private insurance are estimated to spend more than $35 per month out of pocket for insulin and could have been helped.

grid.news/story/politics…
Over 400,000 people on private insurance /uninsured in the US were estimated to spend at least 40% of their income (outside of food and housing) on insulin costs.

I am not sure if that number is smaller or bigger now. healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hl…
Plus for Medicare beneficiaries there will be no deductible for insulin. #Insulin4All

Details HT @KFF kff.org/slideshow/what… Image
From what I gather, Pharma supported the $35 copay cap, specifically @LillyPad

So I’m really puzzled what the problem was. Just a process thing?

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with Vincent Rajkumar

Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @VincentRK

Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Aug 12
Revised CDC guidance on COVID does not make sense. We are still losing 500 people a day to COVID. It’s a big risk. It’s like we are giving up.

As a cancer doctor I am also worried for my vulnerable patients.
#CovidIsNotOver
The measures we had in place so far were quite lenient. There no mask mandates or lockdowns. Just simple common sense measures to prevent transmission given the continued rise of new variants that are vaccine evasive.

Why dismantle them? And based on what data?
And seems exactly opposite of what the FDA is recommending with more testing urging more care in regards to COVID.
Read 6 tweets
Vincent Rajkumar Profile picture
Aug 10
Once Medicare can negotiate, how much would I cut the list price of Top 10 drugs that Medicare spends a lot of money on?

90%.

Even if you slash prices by 90%, these drugs will still be far more expensive than in India (for same drug or generic).
Forget India.

Take Europe. For #1 drug on the list Eliquis look at cost difference below. You could cut the price by half and the drug will still be twice as expensive in the US. Why Medicare should negotiate. statista.com/statistics/113…
What about Revlimid the #2 drug we spend the most money on?

Well it’s about $18,000 a month in the US. $115 in India and you choose from ~18 generics.

But it’s not just India. See below. statista.com/statistics/123…
Read 8 tweets
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…
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
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.
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(