Do you have any source I could read to see how it works in Italy? I live in central Europe (Slovakia) and insulin is also "free" here (if you are diabetic and have a prescription), but it´s not "paid by the government", it´s paid by the compulsory insurance everyone is paying (for me, it´s about 5% off of my net salary).
I 100% agree to your second point. I found some data to compare: Humalog from Eli Lilly Netherlands costs 19,42 € per 10 ml vial in Slovakia [1] and $296.29 in the US [2]. Yep, that´s ~13 times as much (I ignore exchange rates, but it´s in the same ballpark). This is not saying much though, due to salary difference. Average monthly salary in Slovakia is 1133 € , while in the US it is $4692.5.
Thus, an average Slovak can pay for 580 ml of insulin monthly (I´ll note here, they doesn´t have to pay, it´s covered by insurance), while an American can only get 158 ml of the same brand, same product insulin.
On top of that is the manufacture price is up to $6.16 per vial. [5]
[1] https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https...
[2] https://www.drugs.com/price-guide/humalog#
[3]https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=sk&tl=en&u=htt...
[4]https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000
[5]https://www.singlecare.com/blog/insulin-prices/
I 100% agree to your second point. I found some data to compare: Humalog from Eli Lilly Netherlands costs 19,42 € per 10 ml vial in Slovakia [1] and $296.29 in the US [2]. Yep, that´s ~13 times as much (I ignore exchange rates, but it´s in the same ballpark). This is not saying much though, due to salary difference. Average monthly salary in Slovakia is 1133 € , while in the US it is $4692.5.
Thus, an average Slovak can pay for 580 ml of insulin monthly (I´ll note here, they doesn´t have to pay, it´s covered by insurance), while an American can only get 158 ml of the same brand, same product insulin.
On top of that is the manufacture price is up to $6.16 per vial. [5]
[1] https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https... [2] https://www.drugs.com/price-guide/humalog# [3]https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=sk&tl=en&u=htt... [4]https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000 [5]https://www.singlecare.com/blog/insulin-prices/