Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (First District of Colorado)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressional Diabetes Caucus Co-Chairs Diana DeGette (CO-01) and Gus Bilirakis (FL-12) released the following statement after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a settlement with one of the nation’s largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBM), Express Scripts, Inc., and its affiliated entities.
“For years, the Diabetes Caucus has been focused on lowering the cost of insulin for the millions of Americans who rely on it to manage their blood sugar levels and on holding PBMs accountable for their role in insulin’s high cost. This settlement is an important victory for people with diabetes over companies that have steered patients towards higher-cost drugs to pad their own bottom lines. We encourage other PBMs to take responsibility, lower costs, and help make insulin more affordable and accessible for American families.”
The Diabetes Caucus has been working on this issue for nearly a decade and released a report that called out PBMs’ insulin price gouging practices as early as 2018.