Optum, Sanofi partner on low cost insulin for the uninsured

Photo: SimpleImages/Getty Images

Optum is partnering with pharmaceutical company Sanofi to make insulin available and affordable for uninsured people.

The UnitedHealth Group subsidiary is working with the drugmaker to offer a 30-day supply of commonly used insulins for $35 through its online health services and products retailer Optum Store.

Available with a valid prescription, the low-cost insulin is being offered on the heels of UnitedHealthcare's July announcement that it plans to eliminate out-of-pocket costs in standard fully insured group plans for certain preferred prescription drugs, including insulin and several drugs used to treat emergencies.

Heather Cianfrocco, CEO of OptumRx, anticipates the partnership will improve access and lower costs for those who need an affordable insulin solution.

"The need for affordable insulin is urgent, especially for uninsured populations," she said.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

Optum said it's able to provide affordable access to needed medications by leveraging its core clinical and pharmacy benefit capabilities to negotiate lower prices and discounts.

People can access Optum Store to determine whether their insulin is part of the affordability program. They may then get qualified and download an insulin savings card, and then fill their prescription at the $35 price point at any retail pharmacy. A mail-service option will soon be available for people who prefer home delivery through the Optum Store.

The Optum Store is an integrated healthcare marketplace offering prescriptions, everyday health and wellness products, online doctor visits and mental health therapy with no insurance required. 

"This collaboration builds on the many programs, like the Insulins Valyou Savings Program, we've implemented to help to deliver on our goal to reduce patient out-of-pocket costs by working with Optum to create yet another access point for affordable insulin," said Adam Gluck, senior vice president of U.S. corporate affairs, Sanofi.

THE LARGER TREND

There are several legislative proposals in Congress, some stalled and some nascent, that would propose a $35-per-month cap on what insured Americans would pay out-of-pocket for insulin – and this cap in costs would benefit about 25% of those on individual and small group markets and about 20% of those in larger employer-sponsored plans.

That's according to a July analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which comes as congressional Democrats are renewing the push for a $35 insulin cap that was included in the stalled Build Back Better Act. That legislation passed the House but became mired in the Senate.

The measure would require that insurers, including private plans and Medicare Part D plans, charge no more than $35 per month for insulin products. Private group or individual plans would have to cover at least one of each dosage form, such as a vial pen, and each type of insulin, from rapid-acting to ultra-long-acting and premixed. Cost-sharing would be limited to no more than $35 per 30-day supply of each type.

In a bid to make diabetes treatment more affordable, California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a  recent Twitter video that the state would begin making its own low-cost insulin, using a $100 million budget to kick-start development and manufacturing of the drug.

The move follows up on his 2019 executive order, issued on his first day in office, that tasked the state's Department of Health Care Services to investigate how California would mitigate the high costs of prescription drugs.
 

Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com