" It ' s the Rx rebates, stupid! "

Although mylast post addressed one realistic solution to an embedded problem in the U.S. healthcare system related to prescriptions of life-sustaining essentials like insulin (which isn ' t a NEW drug; it was discovered in 1921), the problem has never really been explained which is necessary when interacting with lawmakers about potential legislative solutions to the problem of runaway insulin prices. So, this post aims to be an explainer. Insulin is today a prescription medicine (it used to be OTC, and early-generations still are, but with the advent of analog insulin, the drug companies persuaded the FDA to reclassify insulin as a prescription drug rather than OTC, which was the first step towards runaway prices) and there are only a handful of manufacturers worldwide. That is the root of the problem, but not due to a lack of competition, but because of the primary way insulin makers compete on price. Instead of price transparency, they rely on secret deals and discounts are awarded through rebates offered to payers rather than reducing the prices up-front. They artificially raise the list price of insulin so they can give ever-bigger rebates to insurance companies who pay for most prescriptions.The Rx rebates ARE the problem, and it ' s an enormous problem!According to the June 29, 2020 report entitled " Diabetes Costs and Affordability in the United States " by the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science (seehttps://www.iqvia.com/insights/the-iqvia-institute/reports/d...
Source: Scott's Web Log - Category: Endocrinology Tags: Food and Drug Administration Drug Channels FDA insulin legislation price caps price-caps rebate reform rebates Source Type: blogs