New law caps insulin co-pays at $100
By HME News Staff
Updated Tue May 28, 2019
DENVER - Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has signed a new law that caps co-payments for prescription insulin to $100 a month for insured patients, regardless of the amount or type of drug needed. The law also directs the state's attorney general to investigate pricing of insulin drugs and determine whether or not additional consumer protections are needed. Colorado is the first state to enact such a law, according to news reports. Almost 20,000 Coloradans are diagnosed with diabetes each year and as of Jan. 1, 2018, nearly 300,000 have been diagnosed and another 110,000 are undiagnosed but living with the disease, the law says. The annual medical cost related to diabetes in Colorado is almost $4 billion, with 18% of that amount, or about $700 million, spent on prescription drugs to treat the disease, it says. Insulin prices rose by 45% between 2014-17, and 555%, adjusted for inflation, over the last 14 years, it says. Nearly one in four Type 1 diabetics report underusing insulin due to the high cost of the drug, it says.
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