GSK to cap out-of-pocket inhaler costs in US
Source: Reuters
March 20, 2024 6:17 PM EDT
March 20 (Reuters) - British pharmaceutical giant GSK (GSK.L) said on Wednesday it would cap out-of-pocket costs for all its inhaled asthma and chronic lung disease medicines at $35 per month for eligible patients in the United States, following similar moves by two of its rivals.
GSK said the decision will take effect by Jan. 1, 2025. The cost cap would apply to all of its asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) medicines, including Advair Diskus, Advair HFA, and Trelegy Ellipta, and would apply to patients whose monthly costs currently exceed $35.
US lawmakers in January had criticized the top four inhalers manufacturers — AstraZeneca, Boehringer, Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA.TA) and GSK — over high prices, and launched an investigation to look into the prices at which these were sold in the U.S. versus other countries.
The lawmakers claimed in the letter sent to the four companies in January that GSK's Advair HFA costs $319 in the United States but $26 in the United Kingdom.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/gsk-cap-out-of-pocket-inhaler-costs-us-2024-03-20/
Link to article-referenced Senate Health, Education, Labor, Pensions Committee January 2024 NEWS RELEASE with links to the letters sent - NEWS: Chairman Sanders, Baldwin, Luján, Markey Launch HELP Committee Investigation into Efforts by Pharmaceutical Companies to Manipulate the Price of Asthma Inhalers
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The cost of inhalers, especially Advair, is exorbitant even with insurance. 
E.g., re-do the codes and pricing, and confirm what products the cap would apply to. Updating data systems like that often requires a contract modification once the change requirements are determined, and then they have to to do the testing of the changes/bug fixes, etc. before going "live". Otherwise all hell can break out! 
Back in the day I had Advair - and with my insurance at work any other prescriptions cost me $5, but Advair was $30! Looks like the cost must be prohibitive for those who need it these days. 
I think the list price to the insurer was something like $225/month but I still had to pay $75/month or something like that, which was a nuisance. It eventually became a generic but by then I dropped the Advair and just use an albuterol inhaler (mostly ProAir) as needed (and that was cheaper).
