By Melissa Repko - CNBC
Walmart announced on Tuesday that starting this week it will sell cheap insulin, which will benefit millions of Americans who
do not have health insurance or who have difficulties to pay for this
essential
medicine
for the lives of diabetics.
The department store chain will market, with a prescription, an exclusive version of ReliOn NovoLog analog insulin
for adults and children
.
It will cost about $ 73 per vial or about $ 86 for a pack of pre-filled insulin pens.
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This insulin is the latest drug that Walmart incorporates to its line of products dedicated to diabetes.
Until now, it already sold a cheaper version of insulin for $ 25, but it is an old formula that some doctors consider is not as effective in controlling blood sugar as the new insulin, called analog.
More than
34 million Americans
- about 11% of the population - have diabetes, and each year 1.5 million are diagnosed, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
About 14% of the nation's diabetics buy their drugs at Walmart, said the company's vice president of health and wellness, Warren Moore, in a telephone meeting with reporters.
The price of insulin has also increased over the years
.
A person with type 1 diabetes paid a total of $ 5,700 in 2016, almost double the $ 2,900 cost for their treatment in 2012, according to data from the Health Care Cost Institute.
Some of the main insulin manufacturers, such as Sanofi or Eli Lilly, have been
questioned in Congress about the rise in the price
of this vital drug for the survival of diabetics.
In some cases, drug companies have responded to criticism by activating limited programs with cheaper prices.
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Dr. Cheryl Pegus, executive vice president of health and wellness at Walmart, assured that the new drug that her company will market will put analog insulin.
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The price difference with the drug's competitors, in whose development the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk has collaborated, will be up to $ 101 per vial of insulin or up to $ 251 for each pack of pre-filled pens, Pegus stressed.
"We hope that this price will improve and revolutionize the accessibility and affordability of insulin," he said in a call with reporters.
"We know that many people with diabetes have trouble managing this chronic disease because of its financial burden," he added.