The high cost of insulin is putting a strain on many Americans. Some are having to make life-threatening decisions, to buy their insulin or pay for food and shelter.

The cost of insulin nearly tripled from 2002 to 2013 and has doubled again since then.

56-year-old , Philip Anderson is a type 2 diabetic. He says his insulin has gone up 100 percent over the past 3 years. "My insurance was paying less and less so my out of pocket was more and more each time," says Anderson.

A recent survey by the Diabetes Association found 27 percent of people in their study said cost had affected their use or purchase of insulin. Many of them were regularly taking less than their doctor prescribed, missing doses or switching to a different insulin.

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb blasted insulin makers last week for what he called unacceptably high prices for a decades-old drug. And he rolled out a list of new guidelines for the industry he says will spur competition in the insulin market and bring down the drug’s cost when they take effect in 2020.

Three companies — Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi Aventis — control 90 percent of the insulin market, and that lack of competition has led to escalating prices in recent years.

Health and Human Services Secretary, Eric Hargan talked about sky highs drug prices while he was in Atlanta at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently. He says, " we are going to try to update a lot of our programs so that they can take advantage of tools that we see have worked in the private sector and allow those good insights to be brought to the government."