By Mark Hicks | The Detroit News
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday signed an executive directive to determine how the state can lower the cost of insulin, her office announced.
“The egregiously high cost of insulin is unsustainable,” Whitmer said in the order. “My administration is committed to making insulin available to those who need it at an affordable price.”
The governor’s move comes after U.S. President Joe Biden in August signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which caps insulin copayments at $35 per month starting in January for Medicare beneficiaries only. A $35-per-month limit on out-of-pocket costs for those on private health insurance was removed from the legislation.
Whitmer’s order noted “many Michiganders who need life-saving insulin are not covered by the IRA, including the uninsured and those who face large out-of-pocket costs under their private insurance plans. While the House of Representatives has voted on legislation to extend cost caps, further federal action remains uncertain.”
She added: “We cannot wait. We must take immediate action to make insulin affordable for Michiganders while creating jobs in the state.”
Michigan has some 912,000 residents with diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.
The White House reported about 122,000 Michigan Medicare beneficiaries used insulin in 2020.
A 2020 report released by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found domestic insulin prices rose dramatically in the past decade, and a standard unit has been more than 10 times the price in 32 other countries.
“Our neighbors, family, and friends with diabetes need insulin to survive and for too long, drug companies have been jacking up prices, forcing them to make impossible choices between medication, food, rent, or other bills,” Whitmer said in a statement Monday. “… I am grateful to ongoing, bipartisan efforts in the Michigan Legislature and by Attorney General Nessel to reduce the price of insulin, and I will work with anyone to lower the cost of this life-saving drug.”