Iowa Lawmakers Vote to Cap Co-Pay on Insulin

The Iowa House has passed a bill that would cap the co-pay amount for someone with an insulin prescription to $100 per month. Ann Meyer, a state representative and registered nurse introduced the bill.

The Health Care Cost Institute says the price of insulin has almost doubled in the last five years. The amounts paid by insurance companies vary greatly and for many who battle diabetes, the costs are unmanageable. For some, it leads to decisions that should never have to even be considered.

Schoolteacher Liza Osborn of Farragut, Iowa told the Des Moines Register,

...  I now have to pay co-insurance for the insulin, which is more than $750 per month. That is over one-third of my take-home pay.

I don't want to have to resort to rationing my meds. I don't want to die. But it is becoming a situation where it might come down to me rationing my meds and possibly dying because the drug and insurance companies can't figure this out.

The bill goes on to the Iowa Senate for consideration. Presently, there are no groups registered to lobby to kill the bill.

If it passes the Senate and gets Governor Reynolds' signature, Iowa would become the third state to have a $100 per month co-pay limit on insulin. The other two are Illinois and Colorado.

According to NorwestMoInfo, just last week Virginia and New Mexico lawmakers voted for insulin co-pay limits. If signed by the governors of the individual states, Virginia's limit would be $50 and New Mexico's $25.