Sonora, CA—Tuolumne County Public Health reminds the public that low-cost insulin pens are available at local pharmacies.
It is a new state initiative that Governor Gavin Newsom discussed in his recent State of the State address, as reported here. As insulin costs continued to rise across the country, with some pointing to middlemen for the increase, in October Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 40, which caps out-of-pocket cost-sharing for insulin at $35 per monthly supply and also prohibits “step therapy,” which prevents health plans from requiring patients to try various types of insulin before approving coverage for a prescribed insulin. The pens are offered under the CalRx brand and are priced accordingly.
County health updates that CalRx® Insulin Glargine pens, produced by Civica Rx, a nonprofit generic drug manufacturer with Biocon Biologics, are available in pharmacies for $55 for a 5-pack of pens.
Newsom says, “By beginning the process to manufacture our own insulin and pricing it at a maximum cost of $11 a pen in a five-pack, California and Civica are showing the nation what it looks like to put people over profits. No Californian should ever have to ration insulin or go into debt to stay alive—and I won’t stop until health care costs are crushed for everyone.”
The state has just over four million adults with diabetes, with an additional 263,000 cases of type I diabetes diagnosed each year, according to state health officials. They noted that the rate of these new cases tends to be higher and disproportionately affects the elderly, men, and low-income people.
