Access to insulin can be a matter of life or death for those with diabetes, a disease that more than 37 million Americans live with. But the drug's soaring price can alarmingly put it out of reach of those who need it.
"The price of insulin has risen inexplicably over the past 20 years at a rate far higher than the rate of inflation," according to an analysis published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings in 2020. "One vial of Humalog, which used to cost $21 in 1999, costs $332 in 2019, reflecting a price increase of more than 1000%."
The cost of other drugs has risen during the same time, of course. Ideally, Congress would swiftly pass a remedy to ensure that all medications are affordable. But that isn't realistic given deepening political divides and the even deeper pockets of pharmaceutical industry lobbyists.
