The figure accounts for nearly 1 in every 7 people with diabetes who use insulin.
The researchers found that 61.4 percent of patients who “experienced catastrophic spending” for insulin, a metric the World Health Organization defines as accounting for more than 40 percent of a household’s budget, were Medicare recipients. The study pointed to policy reform to cap insulin prices and prevent these budgets.
Lower income levels played a big part in the inequity: Households bringing in more than $44,000 annually were “shielding people entirely from catastrophic spending.”
The study evaluated nearly 8 million people’s self-reported budgets that included at least one prescription for insulin in 2017 and 2018. The median out-of-pocket cost for insulin was $97.72, but Medicare and Medicaid recipients, on average, paid less than people with private insurance or those who paid 100 percent.
Despite the difference in average spending, however, “21.1 percent of Medicare beneficiaries, 19.4 percent of Medicaid-covered patients and 4 percent of privately insured people [experienced] catastrophic spending on insulin,” according to the study.
