Some families are still spending thousands of dollars per year on lifesaving medication. Policymakers are finally doing something about it. EpiPens are once again becoming a target for policymakers looking to solve one of American health care’s most egregious cost crises.
Several years ago, exponential price increases that were making it difficult for patients to afford the lifesaving medication drew widespread attention and intense public outrage. The company that makes EpiPens, Mylan, paid a nine-figure fraud settlement with the federal government and introduced a moderately cheaper version of the drug. This didn’t entirely solve the medication’s affordability problem — some patients are still paying in excess of $600 a year for epinephrine — but it did mean the cost of EpiPens stopped getting so much attention.
But that is starting to change. Lawmakers in Colorado are advancing legislation that would cap patients’ out-of-pocket costs for epinephrine, potentially saving families hundreds of dollars every year. Similar proposals in other states are starting to gain traction. Ultimately, experts say, Congress may need to impose a cap on how much patients pay for epinephrine — mimicking the step they took with insulin last year for people on Medicare.
As with insulin, which has recently seen dramatic price cuts recently after a prolonged advocacy campaign, a near-monopoly by Big Pharma led to EpiPen prices skyrocketing. Mylan hiked the price of a two-pack of EpiPens sixfold, from about $100 to $600, in a decade. Out-of-pocket spending doubled, as patients with serious allergies were forced to pay up in order to get access to a medicine that could save their life in an emergency.
In the past few years, new products, including a non-branded version of EpiPen sold by Mylan, entered the market. The hope was that the increased competition would bring prices down.
But in reality, the effect was more muted. Some patients still must pay hundreds of dollars every year for their epinephrine.
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