EpiPen maker lowers price after uproar

The maker of EpiPens announced Thursday that it is reducing the price of the device following an uproar in Washington over the cost of the treatment for serious allergic reactions. 

{mosads}Mylan, the company that makes EpiPen, said it will provide a savings card worth up to $300 for people who had been paying the full price out-of-pocket, effectively reducing the cost by 50 percent. 

The company is also making it easier to qualify for its patient assistance program, which eliminates out-of-pocket costs for uninsured and underinsured people. 

“We have been a long-term, committed partner to the allergy community and are taking immediate action to help ensure that everyone who needs an EpiPen Auto-Injector gets one,” CEO Heather Bresch said in a statement. 

Mylan announced the changed a day after Hillary Clinton denounced the company for hiking the cost of EpiPens 400 percent in recent years. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill had also sounded the alarm, sending letters to the company and to the Food and Drug Administration pressing for answers. 

Mylan also pointed to insurance companies in its Thursday statement, noting that higher deductibles have left patients picking up more of the cost of drugs like EpiPens. 

“As the health insurance environment has evolved, driven by the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, patients and families enrolled in high-deductible health insurance plans, who are uninsured, or who pay cash at the pharmacy, have faced higher costs for their medicine,” Mylan said. 

Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, called Mylan’s announcement inadequate and simply a “PR move.”

“Mylan should not offer after-the-fact discounts only for a select few-it should reverse its massive price increases across the board immediately,” Cummings said in a statement

–This report was updated at 11:43 a.m.