Amazon pharmacy automates insulin discounts

Amazon.com’s pharmacy unit said it will automatically apply coupon discounts for insulin as the Biden administration seeks to expand access to lower prices for the lifesaving diabetes medication.

Rather than manually entering a coupon code to lower insulin costs to $35 a month, Amazon will provide eligible patients with immediate discounts on more than 15 insulin and diabetes care brands, including insulin vials, pens, continuous glucose monitors and pumps, the online retail giant company said Tuesday in a statement.

Drug manufacturers have long faced pressure to make insulin more affordable for the 40 million Americans with diabetes.

After urging from President Joe Biden and U.S. lawmakers, top insulin makers Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Sanofi said this year that they would cut U.S. prices for several of their products by as much as 78%.

Just three vials of certain forms of insulin can cost patients upward of $1,000, and some patients use as many as six vials a month.

In his State of the Union address earlier this year, Biden pledged to expand a $35 cap on insulin costs for seniors on Medicare, a provision in his signature Inflation Reduction Act legislation, to all patients.

Despite the cuts, drugmakers could make more money thanks to a 2021 law designed to encourage companies to lower prices by removing a cap on rebates.

The law, which goes into effect next year, means companies like Lilly and Novo could avoid paying multimillion-dollar rebates to the government’s Medicaid health program for people with low incomes.