VALyou Savings Program Offers Cheaper Insulins – Now Including Next-Gen Toujeo
By Jeemin Kwon
By Jeemin Kwon and Martin Kurian
The VALyou program, designed to help people without prescription medication insurance and not eligible for other patient assistance programs, now includes basal insulin Toujeo and rapid-acting Apidra in addition to Lantus and Admelog
If you are having problems paying for insulin, then it’s worth knowing that Sanofi recently expanded their VALyou insulin savings program. If you don’t have insurance, then there are patient assistance programs (see our article) that might get you free insulin if you qualify. If not, then VALyou savings now offers discounts on four different kinds of Sanofi insulin - Lantus (basal) and Admelog (mealtime), Toujeo (basal insulin) and Apidra (mealtime insulin).
Earlier this year, Sanofi announced an insulin savings program called VALyou Savings to help people without insurance who don’t qualify for patient assistance programs afford their insulin. Initially, the program was limited to Lantus (basal) and Admelog (mealtime), but now the program has been expanded to include all Sanofi insulins, which add the newer Toujeo basal insulin and the less commonly used Apidra mealtime insulin – good news for people with diabetes.
Under the program, eligible individuals can get a 10mL vial (1000 units) for $99 or five 3mL pens for $149. For comparison, according to GoodRx, a prescription savings website, with their respective savings cards, a 10mL vial of Humalog costs $174 out-of-pocket and a 10mL vial of the mealtime insulin NovoLog costs $282. That means for mealtime insulin vials, VALyou might save users upwards of 40%.
To be eligible for the Insulins VALyou Savings Program, you must:
-
Be a resident of the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, or the US Virgin Islands
-
Be over 18 years of age (caregivers may use this program on behalf of a child)
-
Not have private or commercial insurance
-
Not be enrolled in or eligible for any government health insurance such as Medicaid, Medicare, or VA, TRICARE, DOD, etc.
To check your eligibility and learn more, you can:
If you are eligible, the savings card will be ready for download immediately. To use the card, simply show it to the pharmacist handling your prescriptions. Note: sometimes pharmacies forget to re-apply these savings cards when refilling a prescription, so make sure it is applied when you pick it up for the first and after the first time.
If you are not eligible for the Insulins VALyou Savings Program, there are other cost-saving programs that may help, such as co-pay cards for those with private insurance or patient assistance programs for low-income individuals who are not eligible for Medicaid. Click here for information on patient assistance programs for Lantus, Admelog, Toujeo, and Apidra.
For more reading on questions about access and affordability, check out our access series, and in particular, our piece on patient assistance programs.