Insulin prices in the U.S. were up to 10 times higher in 2018 than other countries in an intergovernmental group created to stimulate economic progress globally, according to a report cited by STAT.
In 2018, the average price per standard unit of insulin in the U.S. was $98.70 for all types of insulin, compared to $6.94 in Australia; $12 in Canada; $7.52 in the U.K.; and $8.81 in all the other wealthy countries combined, according to the report from Rand Corp., an American nonprofit global policy think tank. The analysis was conducted on behalf of HHS.
U.S. prices were highest for rapid-acting insulin, which cost $119.36 in the U.S. in 2018 compared to $8.19 in the other countries in the intergovernmental group. The prices were lowest for intermediate-acting insulin, at $73.56 in the U.S. compared to $5.98 in the other countries.
The analysis used list prices instead of net prices, but researchers said that even if rebates lowered the U.S prices by 50 percent, they still would have been about four times higher than in other countries.
"Prices in the U.S. are always much higher than other nations, even if you assume steep discounts to manufacturer prices in the United States," Andrew Mulcahy, lead author and a senior policy researcher at Rand, told STAT.
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