Colorado: First State To Cap Insulin Co-Pay

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Colorado's governor, Jared Polis signed a bill Thursday, May 23rd, 2019, placing a cap on insulin payments, the first such law in the US.

The bill caps co-payments on insulin to a $100 limit for private insurance.

The law does not limit what manufacturers can charge to insurance companies.

Costs of insulin have increased by up to 700% in recent years. Polis said 'Today we declare the days of insulin price gouging are over in Colorado'.

Polis said the bill was passed to support the 400,000 Coloradans who live with diabetes every day including the brother of the bill's sponsor state Rep. Dylan Roberts. His brother Murphy, developed Type 1 diabetes at 10 and died 3 years later.

The new law also contains a provision requiring the Colorado Attorney General to investigate the causes of the rapid and extreme increases in the prices charged for insulin. The state will issue a report on the AG's findings by the end of next year.

The purpose of the investigative provision is to gather information to help other stats in their potential pursuit of capping prices on insulin co-pays.