Colorado caps insulin co-pays to $100
Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law this week that will provide much-needed relief to patients in Colorado who need insulin.
HB19-1216, signed Wednesday, caps the total co-pay that patients will pay for insulin to $100 per monthly supply. That’s regardless of how much insulin is being dispensed, according to Colorado House Democrats.
More than 420,000 people in Colorado have diabetes, and the average out-of-pocket costs for insulin are ranging from $600 to $900 per month for Coloradans.
The legislation also directs the Colorado Attorney General’s Office to investigate “the business practices, organization, pricing, and data of pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacy benefit managers, insurance carriers, and any other entity that influences insulin costs” and then write a report to identify possible solutions through the legislature.
This is in response to the skyrocketing price of insulin, which has gone up by about 45 percent between 2014 and 2017 and has risen by more than 700 percent in the last 20 years, according to Democratic Rep. Dylan Roberts, who is sponsoring the bill.
While the law puts a limit on what patients will pay, it doesn’t change the cost of insulin. Insurance providers largely haven’t said how the additional costs will be managed.
According to a news release from Colorado House Democrats, the annual medical cost in the state for insulin prescriptions to treat diabetes is roughly $700 million.
Click HERE to read the bill in its entirety.
