DRC & Research News

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Diabetes Pills

Reduced Out-of-Pocket Insulin Costs for Seniors Through Medicare

Out-of-Pocket Insulin Costs for Seniors

The cost of buying insulin can quickly add up, but this medication is life-sustaining for individuals with type 1 diabetes. Many seniors are on a fixed income, and some may struggle to afford the out-of-pocket costs for insulin, which can lead to rationing their supply. This can be incredibly dangerous to their health.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that it would implement measures to help curb these costs for seniors. Many Medicare Part D prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans with prescription drug coverage will now be offering lower insulin costs to seniors, capping the copay at $35 for a month’s supply. This is part of the new Part D Senior Savings Model and will cover “both pen and vial dosage forms for rapid-acting, short-acting, intermediate-acting, and long-acting insulins.”

Insulin manufacturers and Part D sponsors are working together to offer this market-based solution that enables them to provide deeper discounts to seniors and fixed, predictable copays in the coverage gap. According to CMS, “beneficiaries who use insulin and join a plan participating in the model could see an average out-of-pocket savings of $446, or 66 percent, for their insulins, funded in part by manufacturers paying an estimated additional $250 million of discounts over the five years of the model.”

Seniors will be able to go on to the CMS website and compare their prescription drug plan options to find a participating sponsor and plan that fits their needs. Enrollment would begin in the fall for coverage starting on January 1, 2021. There have also been numerous actions that have been taken in response to COVID-19 to support individuals with type 1 diabetes in accessing and affording insulin.

It is encouraging to see drug manufacturers and insurance companies making changes to improve access and affordability of life-sustaining medications such as insulin. Diabetes Research Connection (DRC) will continue to stay abreast of these trends and how they impact diabetes management. DRC provides critical funding for researchers focused on type 1 diabetes to find a cure and improve prevention and treatment options as well as the quality of life. Click to learn more about current projects and provide support.

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Role of the integrated stress response in type 1 diabetes pathogenesis
In individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D), the insulin-producing beta cells are spontaneously destroyed by their own immune system. The trigger that provokes the immune system to destroy the beta cells is unknown. However, accumulating evidence suggest that signals are perhaps first sent out by the stressed beta cells that eventually attracts the immune cells. Stressed cells adapt different stress mitigation systems as an adaptive response. However, when these adaptive responses go awry, it results in cell death. One of the stress response mechanisms, namely the integrated stress response (ISR) is activated under a variety of stressful stimuli to promote cell survival. However, when ISR is chronically activated, it can be damaging to the cells and can lead to cell death. The role of the ISR in the context of T1D is unknown. Therefore, in this DRC funded study, we propose to study the ISR in the beta cells to determine its role in propagating T1D.
Wearable Skin Fluorescence Imaging Patch for the Detection of Blood Glucose Level on an Engineered Skin Platform
zhang
A Potential Second Cure for T1D by Re-Educating the Patient’s Immune System
L Ferreira
Validating the Hypothesis to Cure T1D by Eliminating the Rejection of Cells From Another Person by Farming Beta Cells From a Patient’s Own Stem Cells
Han Zhu
Taming a Particularly Lethal Category of Cells May Reduce/Eliminate the Onset of T1D
JRDwyer 2022 Lab 1
Can the Inhibition of One Specific Body Gene Prevent Type 1 Diabetes?
Melanie
Is Cholesterol Exacerbating T1D by Reducing the Functionality and Regeneration Ability of Residual Beta Cells?
Regeneration Ability of Residual Beta Cells
A Call to Question… Is T1D Caused by Dysfunctionality of Two Pancreatic Cells (β and α)?
Xin Tong
Novel therapy initiative with potential path to preventing T1D by targeting TWO components of T1D development (autoimmune response and beta-cell survival)
flavia pecanha