On March 1, drugmaker Eli Lilly shocked the industry by announcing several new policies to make some of its insulin products more affordable. The pharmaceutical giant is one of three companies, along with Sanofi and Novo Nordisk, that control 90 percent of the world’s supply of insulin — a drug without which I, and many other diabetics, will die within days. Shortly after Eli Lilly’s announcement, both competitors responded with similar plans of their own to lower the financial barrier to insulin.

For the past twenty years, these three corporations have worked in lockstep to raise the price of their insulin products by over 1,000 percent. A single vial of insulin itself costs less than $7 to produce but is priced at more than $315 at my local pharmacy. As a result of these extraordinary costs, nearly one in five Americans who rely on insulin have been forced to ration it. This means 1.3 million Americans skip doses every year, resulting in loss of sight, kidney damage, and even death.

The manufacturers’ announcements that they will, in effect, kill fewer diabetics moving forward is certainly welcome. But the companies’ policy changes wouldn’t have happened without public and political pressure — and they don’t go nearly far enough.