Policy Brief:NJ A954 Affordable Insulin for All

Policy Brief:NJ A954 Affordable Insulin for All

bstract Insulin Affordability.Diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin.A diabetic requires insulin to manage their diabetes.Some diabetics are forced to choose between insulin and food.On January 14, 2020, Robert Karabinchak and Pamela Lampitt introduced A954 a bill that provides coverage for prescription drugs pursuant to the terms of a health benefits plan offered by the carrier are prohibited from requiring a covered person to pay, for a covered prescription insulin drug, an amount exceeding $100 per 30 day supply of insulin, regardless of the amount or type of insulin needed to fill the covered person’s prescription (njleg, 2021).The bill provides that the purchase of insulin is not subject to deductible, requires health insurers to limit copayments and requires insulin manufacturers to submit reports to the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance (njleg, 2021).The Legislature finds and declares that the rising cost of insulin has created an affordability crisis that threatens the health and financial well-being of many diabetes patients (njleg, 2021).The lack of competition, transparency and accountability in the prescription drug market has allowed manufacturers of insulin to exert extraordinary pricing power (njleg, 2021).Mandating insurance coverage cost sharing maximums in New Jersey to improve consumer access to insulin and to provide for transparency and publication of drug company pricing of insulin (njleg, 2021). Statement of the Issue/Problem The rising cost of insulin has created an affordability crisis that threatens the health and financial well-being of many diabetic patients (njleg, 2021).Prices for insulin doubled over the five year period from 2012 to 2016 and other studies show that prices for insulin have increased by 700% over the past two decades (njleg, 2021).The lack of competition, transparency and