New Colo. law caps monthly insulin co-pays at $100

May 22-- May 22--Diabetic people with health insurance won't have to pay more than $100 a month for their insulin, according to a new state law signed by Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday.

"For Coloradans living with Type 1 diabetes, insulin is essential to their survival -- it's the same as oxygen," said state Rep. Dylan Roberts, D-Avon, and the prime sponsor of House Bill 1216. "The skyrocketing cost of insulin is outrageous and it is literally putting people's lives at risk."

Roberts knows how expensive diabetes is to treat; he had a younger brother, Murphy, die of diabetic complications.

Roberts said he was able to get the cooperation of health insurers in getting the measure through the Legislature this year.

The high cost of insulin has generated headlines nationally and is now the target of congressional investigators.

Roberts said diabetics have seen the price of insulin more than triple in recent years and some are paying as much as $900 a month or more, even with insurance.

Roberts said part of the problem is only three multinational companies make insulin -- and their prices have gone up almost in tandem in recent years, even though the cost of production hasn't changed.

"In 1996, you could get a vial of insulin for $21," Roberts said. "That same vial today now costs between $300 and $400. There is evidence that one-in-four diabetics are rationing their use of insulin because of the cost."

It is estimated there are more than 420,000 diabetics in Colorado, he said.

While the bill caps the monthly out-of-pocket co-payment at $100 for insulin, it also authorizes the state attorney general's office to investigate drug pricing, manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers -- all of which have a role in setting the cost of insulin.

proper@chieftain.com

Twitter:@RoperPeter

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