Though people with diabetes pay an average of $21.80 per month for Lilly insulin, emotional stories about insulin rationing, misinformation about out-of-pocket costs, as well as ongoing remarks by policymakers have driven a mainly negative narrative around insulin affordability.

Lilly has been investing in creating affordability solutions to ensure more Americans with diabetes could access their Lilly insulin. In March 2023, based on culmination of efforts, Lilly announced that it was cutting list prices of insulins by 70% and capping out-of-pocket costs automatically at the pharmacy counter to $35 per month for people with commercial insurance.

We created a new campaign anchored around a simple message designed to dispel misinformation and resonate with patients, policymakers and every stakeholder – “Lilly insulin is $35 per month or less.”

Objectives:

- Set record straight about Lilly’s efforts on affordability

- Promote our affordability solutions

- Demonstrate leadership

The American healthcare system is complex, with gaps in policies that create higher out-of-pocket costs for many people. Based on a culmination of years of effort, Lilly took unprecedented action to help more Americans with diabetes access affordable Lilly insulin. To be successful, we focused on creating a simple narrative so that every person across America understood the impact of this announcement on creating needed change and access to affordable insulin. We created the simplest message possible –

Lilly caps out-of-pocket costs for patients who use Lilly insulin at $35 or less per month.

The insulin affordability issue is extremely complex and captures the attention of policymakers, consumers and media. The focus of blame for the cost of insulin was on manufacturers despite our decreasing net prices and the availability of different affordability solutions that has driven Lilly insulin to an average of $21.80 per month.

Our insight was, we needed to regain credibility through bold action and delivery of a simple message with broad reach.

Lilly took a number of affordability actions, but our story led with what we knew would resonate most for people with diabetes – $35/month. Our message was simple: Lilly caps out-of-pocket costs for patients who use Lilly insulin at $35 or less a month.

We targeted policymakers first, to help them understand the truth about insulin pricing. Then, we let the country know.

We started by addressing misinformation around insulin pricing head-on through our “Get Insulin Informed” paid social campaign to reinforce the truth about insulin pricing.

We built an earned media strategy to ensure our complex story generated meaningful and accurate coverage from the start. On March 1, we broke the news with a live interview on CNN with Lilly Chair and CEO Dave Ricks to ensure the first messages on this important announcement came directly from Lilly. This was followed by a press briefing with Ricks for a select group of American reporters. We capitalized on this moment to create a wide-reaching halo effect on Lilly’s corporate reputation.

We distributed a press release, selectively engaged in media interview requests, managed hundreds of questions from media, launched a landing page with helpful resources for people with diabetes, and launched paid social ads targeted to policymakers to extend our reach and elevate awareness.

The White House issued a statement in support of Lilly’s efforts following social posts from President Joe Biden and nearly 50 policymakers including Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders shared their support on social media.

Lilly’s move gained widespread support from media, advocacy and policymakers. This pivotal moment garnered 18,300 placements across traditional and broadcast media, and 97,000 social mentions, reaching a combined 81.9 billion people. Top placements included CNN, Good Morning America, TODAY, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal.

Patients also shared their heartfelt stories online, responding to what this news means for them and underscoring the impact this action taken by Lilly will have on millions of Americans who need insulin to live. And those patients took action on the consumer website, resulting in a 580.62% increase in users visiting the website and an 855.19% increase in downloads of Lilly’s savings card.