House passes Craig’s bill to cap insulin copays at $35 per month
By Sun This Week - April 7, 2022
The U.S. House of Representatives last week passed Rep. Angie Craig’s legislation that would cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 per month, lowering drug costs for those who are currently paying high costs for insulin and other diabetic treatments.
The Affordable Insulin Now Act would enact a drug pricing reform long championed by stakeholders dedicated to addressing the skyrocketing cost of insulin – and provide Congress with a commonsense, widely supported vehicle to enact meaningful drug reform to lower the price of prescription drugs for millions of Americans, Craig said in a press release.
U.S. Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Michigan, and Lucy McBath, D-Georgia, joined Craig as original co-sponsors of the bill.
“No American should have to choose between paying for lifesaving insulin and other basic necessities like food and rent,” Craig said. “And yet, today, all across the country, patients are risking their own lives by rationing doses or skipping treatments entirely due to the skyrocketing cost of their medications. I’m incredibly proud that, today, the House is taking action to cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 per month – ensuring that insulin is affordable and accessible for millions of Americans.”
Craig spoke on the House floor in support of her legislation, urging her colleagues to support efforts to lower drug costs for the millions of Americans with diabetes who rely on insulin to survive.
Costs to treat diabetes and other life-threatening ailments have skyrocketed in recent years. According to the Health Care Costs Institute, insulin prices nearly doubled from 2012 to 2016, with the average price for a 40-day supply of insulin increasing from $344 to $666. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, medical costs and lost work and wages for people with diagnosed diabetes total $327 billion yearly, and the American Diabetes Association has asserted that diabetics account for $1 of every $4 spent on health care in the U.S.
A recent report from the Minnesota Department of Health found that 7.8% of Minnesota adults (about 330,000) had been diagnosed with diabetes (Type 1 or 2).
Craig also previously introduced the bipartisan Insulin Affordability Data Collection Act, which would direct the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to study rates of diabetic ketoacidosis and look into how high insulin prices make it more difficult for people with diabetes to adhere to their insulin prescriptions.
The legislation is also supported by a number of drug pricing advocates:
“The American Diabetes Association, the leading advocate for an insulin out-of-pocket patient co-pay cap, is excited to endorse the Affordable Insulin Now Act introduced by Representatives Angie Craig, Dan Kildee and Lucy McBath,” said Lisa Murdock, the ADA’s chief advocacy officer. “The bill’s $35 monthly out-of-pocket cap on insulin could be life-changing for the millions of Americans with diabetes who use insulin.”
“This bill is an important step towards making insulin affordable for everyone in America. We commend Reps. Craig, Kildee, and McBath and their colleagues for listening to the people who elected them and taking on the pharmaceutical corporations’ greed,” said Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works. “This isn’t a partisan issue. Eighty percent of all Americans say drug prices are too high and that Congress must act to lower them. This bill is a critical step forward in protecting Americans from the criminally high prices that pharmaceutical companies charge.”