Following Successful Public Pressure Campaign to Lower the Cost of Eli Lilly’s Insulin, Sanders and Bush Introduce Bill to Finish the Job and Cap the Price at $20 Per Vial

"There is no reason why Americans should pay the highest prices in the world for insulin – in some cases, ten times as much as people in other countries," said Sen. Sanders. 

"In 1923, the inventors of insulin sold their patents for $1 to save lives, not to turn pharmaceutical executives into billionaires. Now, 100 years later, unacceptable corporate greed has caused the price of this lifesaving medication to skyrocket by over 1,000 percent since 1996. 

We can no longer tolerate a rigged health care system that forced 1.3 million people with diabetes to ration insulin while the three major insulin manufacturers made $21 billion dollars in profits. Now is the time for Congress to take on the greed and power of the pharmaceutical industry and substantially lower the price of insulin. 

In the richest country in the history of the world, no one should die because they cannot afford the medication they need."

https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/following-successful-public-pressure-campaign-to-lower-the-cost-of-eli-lillys-insulin-sanders-and-bush-introduce-bill-to-finish-the-job-and-cap-the-price-at-20-per-vial

How much does Eli Lilly insulin cost now?

The company's ability to slash its prices without consequences for its share price shows, first and foremost, that it can do so. In other words, it is an admission that Eli Lilly has been overpricing until now, putting over a million Americans through unnecessary hardship, not to mention life threatening risk. 

It also shows that the public and political pressure to expose the unjustified high prices of insulin in the US—where, even after this reduction, the drug will costs three times as much as in Europe—has had an effect on the drugmaker. 

But it also shows that Eli Lilly would rather cut prices at will—and reap the reputational benefits associated with the move—than be subject to government regulations… 

…But it's important that this new announcement or other similar measures do not distract from the necessity of regulating insulin prices. Otherwise, drug makers are always free to raise the prices of their lifesaving drugs as suddenly as they have lowered them.

https://qz.com/eli-lillys-insulin-copay-cap-doesnt-replace-the-need-fo-1850173742