Biden Reduces Insulin Price to $15 Per Shot

TL/DR –

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, signed by U.S. President Joe Biden, lowered the cost of insulin for seniors on Medicare. However, during a presidential debate in 2024, Biden inaccurately stated that he had reduced the cost of an insulin shot to $15 from $400. The Inflation Reduction Act actually capped insulin at $35 per month for Medicare seniors, and prior to the act, insulin users on Medicare spent an average of $449 per year, not $400 per shot.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 Drastically Reduced Insulin Costs for Seniors on Medicare

Claim:

President Joe Biden announced that he slashed the insulin price from $400 to $15 per shot.

Rating:

What’s True:

President Biden reduced insulin costs for seniors on Medicare through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

What’s False:

The numbers he mentioned during the June 2024 presidential debate were incorrect. The Act capped insulin at $35 per month, not $15 per shot, for seniors on Medicare. Insulin users on Medicare spent an average of $449 annually, not $400 per shot.

In the first debate of the 2024 presidential election, Biden claimed that he lowered the price of a shot of insulin, from $400 to $15. However, after fact-checking, we found that while he did reduce the insulin price, the numbers he quoted were inaccurate.

Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in August 2022, capping the monthly insulin cost for seniors on Medicare at $35 starting in January 2023. As a result, many drug manufacturers, including Eli Lilly, adjusted their prices accordingly.

As per a 2022 study by the Department of Health and Human Services, Medicare’s insulin users paid an average of $449 annually, contrary to Biden’s $400 per shot claim.

The Snopes newsroom provided real-time fact-checking of the first 2024 presidential debate.

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