Insulin comes in several different forms. It's the patented, long-acting forms that are currently expensive in the United States.
Regular generic insulin is $25/vial at Walmart. You actually don't even need a prescription to get it in most places. The low price of regular insulin is actually unknown to huge numbers of Americans, who are only familiar with insulin analog prices talked about in headlines. There's even a Snopes page confirming that Walmart sells $25/vial insulin because so many people think it must be untrue ( https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/insulin-walmart-vial/ )
WalMart also sells a long-acting insulin analog (NovoLog) for about $75/vial (1000 U total): https://www.walmart.com/cp/relion-diabetic-care/3769564
There is a major problem with insulin education among healthcare providers, IMO. A lot of them will write prescriptions for expensive long-acting forms because they don't ask the patient's financial/insurance status. A lot of patients aren't even aware that they are on a specific patented insulin analog. They just know they take "insulin", that it's expensive when they fill the prescription, and that all of the headlines say insulin is expensive and therefore their experience is normal. It's a dumb situation.
Even dumber: Many Insulin analog manufacturers will actually reimburse low-income patients for their out-of-pocket costs of buying insulin. If you do some research, even the expensive insulins can become very affordable or even free by filling out the right forms. Again, dumb situation, but it's out there.