Seniors Are Already Saving Big After the Inflation Reduction Act’s Insulin Cap Took Effect January 1
New estimates from the Department of Health and Human Services found that 1.5 Million seniors using insulin would have saved hundreds of dollars annually had the Inflation Reduction Act taken effect in 2020. In total, Medicare beneficiaries would have saved $761 million on insulin costs in 2020 — an average of $500 per patient. As insulin costs continue to skyrocket, the Inflation Reduction Act’s insulin cap is a godsend for seniors who have little to spare.
HEADLINES
(GA) Atlanta Journal-Constitution: HHS Says Americans Already Seeing Benefits Of New Insulin Price Cap. “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that a $35 cap on monthly insulin costs for Medicare enrollees that took effect Jan. 1, will save Georgians over $21 million. The monthly cap in out-of-pocket costs for insulin was made under a provision of the larger Inflation Reduction Act, targeted to ease financial strains on people covered by Medicare.” [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 1/25/23]
(OH) Cleveland.com: Ohioans On Medicare Will Save More Than $36 Million Yearly On Insulin Under New Law, Feds Predict. “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that a new law that caps monthly out-of-pocket insulin costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $35 will likely save more than $36 million in yearly costs for more than 72,000 Medicare beneficiaries in Ohio. Using statistics from 2020, a new report from HHS says the $35 monthly cap on out-of-pocket insulin costs, which went into effect on Jan. 1 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, would have saved 1.5 million Americans who use Medicare an average of $500 in their insulin costs that year.” [Cleveland.com, 1/24/23]
(PA) Philadelphia Inquirer: How Much Will People With Diabetes In Pa. And N.J. Save With The New Medicare Insulin Cap? “The Department of Health and Human Services estimates the change will save insulin users an average of $500 a year, based on 2020 medication costs. In Pennsylvania, nearly 80,200 people stand to save an average of $543 a year. And in New Jersey, about 39,600 insulin users with Medicare could save an average of $511 a year, according to HHS estimates. … The insulin price cap is one of several measures in the Inflation Reduction Act intended to stem high and rising prescription-drug costs. The legislation also allowed Medicare to begin negotiating prices for a small number of high-use medications and capped the total amount people with Medicare can pay for prescription drugs.” [Philadelphia Inquirer, 1/24/23]
(VA) Richmond Times-Dispatch: Cap On Insulin Said To Save $18.6 Million A Year For More Than 36,000 Virginians. “More than 36,000 Virginians with diabetes will collectively save $18.6 million a year on the purchase of insulin under federal legislation that capped out-of-pocket costs at $35 a month, effective Jan. 1 for most Medicare members, a federal agency says. The cap, part of the Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden signed into law last year, would save the average Virginian an estimated $510 a year on insulin, according to a national study the White House released Tuesday morning.” [Richmond Times-Dispatch, 1/24/23]
(CT) CT Insider: New Monthly Savings on Insulin for Medicare Enrollees. “1.5 million Americans who are on Medicare Part B and D would have saved an average of about $500 in 2020 if the insulin cost-sharing limit were in place. In Connecticut specifically, seniors would have saved slightly above the average out-of-pocket savings for Medicare beneficiaries across the U.S. About 11,444 Medicare enrollees in Connecticut would have received out-of-pocket savings in 2020 under the Inflation Reduction Act. Those beneficiaries would have saved an estimated total of about $6.7 million with an average annual savings of $590 per enrollee.” [CT Insider, 1/25/23]
(NJ) NJ.com: Here is How Much New Jerseyans Will Save With New Insulin Price Cap. “Medicare recipients won’t have to pay more than $35 a month for insulin, and that should save nearly 40,000 New Jersey residents an average of $511 a year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday. Had the new benefit been in effect in 2020, that would have saved 39,641 New Jersey recipients $20.2 million, the agency said as officials touted the provision, which was part of last year’s climate change and health care law that passed Congress without Republican support and was signed by President Joe Biden.” [NJ.com, 1/24/23]
(MD) New Year, New Rules. Maryland Diabetics Won’t Have To Break The Bank For Insulin In 2023. “Hundreds of thousands of Maryland residents with diabetes will have one less thing to stress about in the New Year: the volatile cost of insulin, a lifesaving medication that enables chronically ill people with diabetes to keep their blood sugar in a safe range. That’s because new laws at the state and federal level cap the price of insulin for patients who are covered by Medicare and those with commercial insurance policies. In August, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a wide-ranging law that mandates all individuals covered by Medicare won’t pay more than $35 for a month’s supply of insulin, or $420 each year… Maryland’s new state law caps the patient cost for a 30-day supply of insulin to $30 or below, even for patients with private commercial insurance plans often through an employer.” [WYPR News, 12/30/23]
(CO) KRDO: New HHS Report Finds More Savings for Colorado Seniors. “Insulin-dependent seniors are getting some unexpected relief, thanks to president Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. At the start of this year, a cap of $35 was placed on a monthly supply of insulin for seniors. A new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services shows that if this cap had been implemented in 2020, Medicaid beneficiaries would have saved an average of $500. Researchers say this cap will affect about 1.5 million seniors across the country. White House advocates say, this provision – and other parts of the Inflation Reduction act – are evidence of president Biden’s promise to lower health care costs in America.” [KRDO, 1/25/23]
(TN) Chattanooga Times Free Press: How Much Will Tennesseans With Medicare Save Due to Insulin Cap? “The White House estimates that Tennesseans on Medicare who take insulin will save on average $494 per year with the new $35 monthly out-of-pocket spending cap on the drug, a provision of the Inflation Reduction Act that’s now in effect. Cost savings estimates are based on a report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released Tuesday. The report is based on Medicare prescription data from 2020, at which time there were 39,562 Medicare enrollees in Tennessee who filled insulin prescriptions. During a media call Tuesday, Dr. Ben Sommers, deputy assistant secretary for health policy at Health and Human Services, said the data may not include thousands or more Medicare beneficiaries who didn’t pick up the insulin because they couldn’t afford it. According to the release, 37% of insulin prescription fills for people with Medicare in 2019 required beneficiaries to pay more than $35 out of pocket, including 24% that exceeded $70 per fill.” [Chattanooga Times Free Press, 1/24/23]
(TX) KVIA: Insulin Price Cap Helping El Paso Medicare Recipients Save Money. “El Pasoans on Medicare part D will not have to pay more than $35 a month for their insulin, thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act. Currently, only patients on Medicare part D are covered, but according to Health and Human Services Agency, starting in July, diabetes patients on Medicare part B will have access to the same savings. According to the El Paso Center for Diabetes, 13.9% of people in the El Paso region have diabetes. That compares to 10.5% of people in the United States. This includes people with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The local diabetes center added that the $35 cap is going to alleviate some of the burdens, especially for our seniors who are on a fixed income. They said many seniors wouldn’t have to choose between paying rent or groceries over their life-saving insulin.” [KVIA, 1/24/23]