AACE and Endocrine Society Partner to Address Insulin Affordability and Access

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) and the Endocrine Society have teamed up to address the high cost of insulin and the associated burdens placed on the millions of Americans who rely on costly daily insulin injections.

Together AACE and the Endocrine Society introduced a resolution this week at the 2017 Interim Meeting of the AMA House of Delegates that called on the AMA to pursue several initiatives aimed at improving insulin affordability for patients with diabetes. The resolution called on the AMA to convene a summit to identify potential solutions to the dramatic increase in insulin costs and also advocate for initiatives to reduce patient cost-sharing for insulins, stabilize drug formularies throughout a plan year to reduce non-medical switching of insulin products; facilitate greater transparency of insulin pricing and integrate drug formularies into electronic health records.

Overwhelming support for addressing insulin costs and their impact on patients expressed on the floor of the House of Delegates led to a unanimous vote for the AMA to study these issues and provide a report with findings and recommendations to the House of Delegates at the 2018 Annual Meeting in June.

“We are concerned rising insulin prices have created a barrier hindering people with diabetes who are insulin-dependent from obtaining the treatments they need,” says the Endocrine Society’s president-elect Susan J. Mandel, MD, MPH. “The approved initiatives will engage stakeholders to work together to improve access to lifesaving therapies.”

“This is an important and encouraging step toward addressing the issues affecting insulin costs and the challenges that our patients face in accessing this medication,” says AACE president Jonathan D. Leffert.  “AACE is pleased to partner with our friends at the Endocrine Society to help address this issue that is so critical to all of our patients.”