TUESDAY, Feb. 6, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The gross price of insulin is much higher in the United States than in 33 comparison countries, according to a report published by the RAND Corporation.
Andrew W. Mulcahy and Daniel Schwam, from the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, used a price index approach to present results from comparisons of U.S. and international prices for insulins; data were included for volume and sales by product separately for the United States and 33 comparison Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.
The researchers found that per 100 international units of insulin, U.S. manufacturer gross prices were on average 971 percent of those in OECD comparison countries combined. U.S. prices remained 233 percent of those in comparison countries combined after estimating gross-to-net discounts for insulins. In terms of comparison to specific countries, U.S. manufacturer gross prices varied from 457 to 3,799 percent of those in Mexico and Turkey, respectively. U.S. prices were always higher than those in other countries, often five to 10 times higher, although the ratio of U.S. to other-country gross prices varied depending on the comparison country and insulin category. From 2017 to 2022, comparisons of U.S. insulin prices with prices in other countries were fairly constant.
“Insulin prices in the U.S. have been increasing for many years and are substantially higher than in other middle- and high-income nations,” Mulcahy said in a statement.
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