The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released insulin pricing data for Medicaid and Medicare Part D for 2019 and 2020. Using the new data, Director of Human Welfare Policy Tara O’Neill Hayes has updated prior American Action Forum research that detailed the cost of insulin from the 1990s through 2018.

Key points:

• New “generic” and “biosimilar” insulin products have come to market and the competition they provide – prices at roughly one-half of the brand name – has caused average insulin prices to decline slightly.
• The impact on out-of-pocket spending in Medicaid and Medicare is quite limited, however, with the result that relatively few patients switch to the new products.
• As a result, average spending per claim is relatively flat in Medicaid and has continued to climb in Medicare Part D, up 6.8 percent since 2018.

Read the analysis