Insulin prices in the Pine Belt may drop soon

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - Currently, insulin prices in the United States are extremely high.

Eli Lilly and Company, one of the major drug manufacturers in the United States., announced a 70 percent price cut on insulin Wednesday.

Patient costs will be capped at $35.

As of May 1, Lilly is also reducing the list price of its non-branded insulin to $25 a vial. Right now, it is listed at $82.

In Mississippi, this is going to help. According to the Mississippi Department of Health, one in seven residents in the state has diabetes.

One local pharmacist said the cost relief has been a long time coming.

“I was like, ‘About time. Why don’t you do it tomorrow?’” Rodgers Family Pharmacy owner Kim Rodgers said.. “I mean, seriously. Insulin prices have gotten really out of control. The inflation bill, whatever they called it, you know, for Medicare patients, it kept insulin costs at no more than $35 a month

“That took effect, and we’re seeing that and that’s helping the patients out,”

Approximately 1,000 people died from diabetes in Mississippi in 2016, according to state officials. Diabetes-related charges to the state’s Medicaid program are around $1 billion each year.

The American Diabetes Association reports that every year, an estimated 20,000 people in Mississippi are diagnosed with diabetes.

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