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When Erin Gilmer filled her insulin prescription at a Denver-area Walgreens in January, she paid $8.50. U.S. taxpayers paid another $280.51.

鈥淚t eats at me to know that taxpayer money is being wasted,鈥� said Gilmer, who has Medicare and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes while a sophomore at the University of Colorado in 2002.

The diagnosis meant that for the rest of her life she鈥檇 require daily insulin shots to stay alive. But the price of that insulin is skyrocketing.

Between 2009 and 2017 the wholesale price of a single vial of Humalog, the Eli Lilly and Co.-manufactured insulin Gilmer uses, nearly tripled 鈥� rising from $92.70 to $274.70, according to data from IBM Watson Health.

Six years ago, Gilmer qualified for Social Security Disability Insurance 鈥� and thus, Medicare 鈥� because of a range of health issues. At the time, the insulin she needed cost $167.70 per vial, according to IBM Watson Health.

鈥淲hen it鈥檚 taxpayer money paying for medication for someone like me, it makes it a national issue, not just a diabetic issue,鈥� Gilmer said.

Stories about people with Type 1 diabetes聽 when they couldn鈥檛 afford insulin have made headlines. Patient activists like Gilmer have 聽high prices outside Lilly鈥檚 headquarters in Indianapolis.

Elizabeth Pfiester, founder of T1International, addresses a crowd outside the Indianapolis headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co. in September.(Bram Sable-Smith/NPR)

Last October in Minnesota, state Attorney General Lori Swanson , alleging price gouging. Pharmaceutical executives were 聽by the Senate Finance Committee on Feb. 26.

This is the backdrop for Lilly鈥檚 聽that it is rolling out a half-priced, generic version of Humalog called 鈥渋nsulin lispro.鈥� The list price: $137.35 per vial.

鈥淧atients, doctors and policymakers are demanding lower list prices for medicines and lower patient costs at the pharmacy counter,鈥� Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks聽. 鈥淵ou might be surprised to hear that we agree 鈥� it鈥檚 time for change in our system and for consumer prices to come down.鈥�

No Panacea

When Lilly鈥檚 Humalog,聽, came to market in 1996, the list price was about $21 per vial. The price didn鈥檛 reach $275 overnight, but yearly price increases added up.

In February 2009, for example, the wholesale price was $92.70, according to IBM Watson Health. It rose to $99.65 in December 2009, then to $107.60 in September 2010, $115.70 in May 2011, and so on.

鈥淭here鈥檚 no justification for why prices should keep increasing at an average rate of 10 percent every year,鈥� said of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, who was lead author of a in Health Affairs attributing the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs to accumulated yearly price hikes.

鈥淭he public perception that we have in general is that drugs are so expensive because we need to pay for research and development, and that鈥檚 true,鈥� Hernandez said. 鈥淗owever, usually research and development is paid for in the first years of life of a drug.鈥�

At $137.35 per vial, Lilly鈥檚 generic insulin is priced at about the same level as Humalog was in 2012, 16 years after it came to market.

鈥淲e want to recognize that this is not a panacea,鈥� said company spokesman . 鈥淭his is an option that we hope can help people in the current system that we work with.鈥�

It鈥檚 worth noting that Humalog is a rapid-acting insulin, but that鈥檚 only one of the two types of insulin most people with Type 1 diabetes use every day. The second kind is long-lasting. Lilly makes one called Basaglar. The most popular long-lasting insulin is Lantus, produced by Sanofi. Neither has a lower-cost alternative.

Still, Lilly鈥檚 move on Humalog could put pressure on the other two big makers of insulin to act.

Novo Nordisk called Lilly鈥檚 lower-priced generic insulin 鈥渁n important development,鈥� in an emailed statement.

鈥淏ringing affordable insulin to the market requires ideas from all stakeholders,鈥� Novo Nordisk鈥檚 said in an email, which also listed steps the company has taken, such as a patient assistance program. The statement didn鈥檛 say whether Novo Nordisk is considering offering a lower-priced version of its popular insulin Novolog, a rival of Humalog.

A statement from Sanofi, the third major insulin maker, also didn鈥檛 say whether the company would offer lower-priced versions of its insulins.

鈥淪anofi supports any actions that increase access to insulins for patients living with diabetes at an affordable price,鈥� spokewoman said in the email, which also touted the company鈥檚 patient assistance program.

A Different Kind Of Generic

One twist in this story is that Lilly鈥檚 new insulin is just a repackaged version of Humalog, minus the brand name. It鈥檚 called an 鈥�.鈥�

鈥淲hoever came up with the term 鈥榓uthorized generic鈥�?鈥� Dr. Vincent Rajkumar said, laughing. Rajkumar is a hematologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the same exact drug鈥� as the brand name, he continued.

Typically, Rajkumar said, authorized generics are introduced by brand-name drugmakers to compete with generic versions of their drugs made by rival companies.

But in the case of Humalog and other insulins, there are no generics made by competitors, as there are for, say, the cholesterol medicine Lipitor or even other diabetes drugs, such as metformin.

So when Lilly鈥檚 authorized generic comes to market, the company will have both Humalog insulin and the authorized generic version of that medicine on the market.

Rajkumar said it鈥檚 a public relations move.

鈥淭here鈥檚 outrage over the price of insulin that is being discussed in Congress and elsewhere. And so the company basically says, 鈥楬ey, we will make the identical product available at half price.鈥� On the surface that sounds great,鈥� Rajkumar said.

鈥淏ut you look at the problems and you think, 鈥極K, how crazy is this that someone is actually going to be buying the brand-name drug?鈥欌��

In fact, it鈥檚 possible that Lilly could break even or profit off its authorized generic compared to the name-brand Humalog, according to University of Pittsburgh鈥檚 Hernandez.

The profit margin would depend on the rebates paid by the company to insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. Rebates are getting a lot of attention these days as one factor that pushes drug prices higher. They鈥檙e usually not disclosed and increase as a drug鈥檚 price increases, providing an incentive to some companies to raise prices.

鈥淒oing an authorized generic is nothing else than giving insurers two options,鈥� Hernandez said: pay the full list price for a brand-name drug and receive a higher rebate, or pay the lower price for the authorized generic and receive a presumably smaller rebate.

鈥淲hat we really need to get insulin prices down is to get generics into the market, and we need more than one,鈥� Hernandez said, adding that previous research has shown that prices begin to go down when 聽generics are competing in the marketplace.

Even so, Lillly鈥檚 Kueterman said the authorized generic insulin 鈥渋s going to help hopefully move the system towards a more sustainable model.鈥�

鈥淚 can guarantee you the reason that we鈥檙e doing this is to help people,鈥� Kueterman said, noting the company鈥檚 has also helped 鈥�10,000 people each month pay significantly less for their insulin鈥� since it opened in August.

For Erin Gilmer, the news about an authorized generic insulin from Lilly has left her mildly encouraged.

鈥淚t sounds really good, and it will help some people, which is great,鈥� Gilmer said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 Eli Lilly and pharma starting to understand that grassroots activism has to be taken seriously, and we are at a tipping point.鈥�

This story is part of a partnership that includes and Kaiser Health News.