Some drugmakers to cap cost of asthma inhalers at $35 a month
Starting Saturday, the cost of inhalers will fall for many Americans, as new out-of-pocket price caps go into effect for the asthma medications from AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim.
Starting Saturday, the cost of inhalers will fall for many Americans, as new out-of-pocket price caps go into effect for the asthma medications from AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim.
Following years of public outcry about the high cost of inhalers, the two drugmakers — along with a third, GlaxoSmithKline — have committed to capping the out-of-pocket cost at $35 a month. GSK’s cap is expected to take effect by Jan. 1.
The moves mirror similar steps taken by insulin manufacturers last year following the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Like insulin, the cost of inhalers in the U.S. is significantly higher than in other wealthy countries. An investigation by the Democratic-led Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions noted AstraZeneca charges $645 in the U.S. for the same inhaler it charges $49 for in the U.K. Teva Pharmaceuticals, another major inhaler manufacturer, charges $286 in the U.S. for an inhaler that costs $9 in Germany.
Caycee Shapland, 29, from Omaha, Nebraska, spends at least $80 each month on her 4-year-old son Jackson’s Symbicort, an inhaler from AstraZeneca, to manage his asthma. He also takes albuterol, also from AstraZeneca, for his asthma.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/drugmakers-cap-cost-asthma-inhalers-35-month-rcna154536
Rating: 5