North Texas Democratic Congressman Colin Allred is cosponsoring the Insulin Price Reduction Act, a bipartisan measure to bring down the price of insulin for millions. Additional sponsors are Colorado Democrat Diane Degette and New York Republican Tom Reed.
The new bill would reduce the price of most insulin products by more than 75 percent, and gives drugmakers an incentive to keep insulin prices set at 2006 levels. It would require Medicare and private insurers to waive deductible requirements for insulin set at 2006 prices, and would give protection to drug makers who comply by allowing them to not make any additional rebates on the price of insulin. The bill would also force insurance companies to cover any insulin product set at the lower price. The current system says that insurers can refuse to cover a drug that isn’t rebated, meaning drug makers often arbitrarily raise the price so that the rebated price is still profitable.
Drug prices TKTK
“It’s unacceptable that in our country, one in four people are rationing their insulin because of high cost,” said Allred. “This bill would lower the cost of insulin by as much as 75 percent and help North Texans who are struggling to pay these high costs for the medicine they need to live. I’m glad to join the bipartisan effort and fight to get this bill passed into law. The time for action is now to lower the costs of insulin and prescription drugs.”
Senate Democrats Tom Carper of Delaware and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire have introduced a similar bill in the U.S. Senate. Read the U.S. House bill here.
