Gemini 2.0 audio input 5x the cost, and 1.5-flash-002 to be discontinued?

Gemini API
1

Gemini 1.5-flash-002 is great in combination with input audio files. Gemini 2.0 is also good, but if I understand the pricing page correctly, is almost 5x the price (0.7ct vs 0.15ct). For high volumes this will have significant impact.

Do I understand that correctly? Are there any plans that will reduce this impact?

3

I’d be interested to hear if anyone else sees this as an issue, or were you able to get flash-lite to work for your purposes?