OKLAHOMA CITY – A bill to make insulin more affordable for Oklahomans was transmitted to Governor Stitt on Wednesday.
House Bill 1019 by Rep. Rande Worthen, R-Lawton, and Sen. Frank Simpson, R-Ardmore, caps the price for a 30-day supply of insulin at $30, and $90 for a 90-day supply, for each covered prescription. Co-pays currently are based on individual insurance plans.
“A friend “was telling me about the cost of insulin, especially if you don’t have insurance,” Worthen said after he filed the bill. “The cost is just terrible.”
HB 1019, though, “will make insulin affordable to all insulin-dependent people in Oklahoma,” he said Tuesday. “I’m happy that we can save them some money. All Oklahomans with diabetes should be able to purchase life-saving insulin without forgoing other bills or stretching it out to less than their recommended dosage.”
Insurance companies “worked alongside us on this measure,” Worthen added. “We couldn’t have done it without their support.”
The Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner will be authorized to enforce the price cap, HB 1019 stipulates.
“Approximately 200,000 Oklahomans have Type I diabetes, requiring daily usage of insulin,” said Simpson.
Type 1 diabetes is caused when a person’s body does not produce enough insulin, resulting in high levels of blood sugar or glucose. This puts them at risk of serious health complications, including kidney failure and stroke. There is no known way to prevent or cure Type 1 diabetes.
“Unfortunately, because of continually increasing prices, many diabetics ration their insulin or go without, putting their health and lives at further risk,” Simpson said. HB 1019 is “a common-sense approach that has already been approved in several other states,” he said. “Companies shouldn’t be allowed to profit from life-sustaining medicines such as insulin.”
Oklahomans with diabetes have medical expenses approximately 2.3 times higher than those who do not have diabetes, research indicates.
Simpson has long advocated for Oklahoma’s diabetic community after his granddaughter’s death from complications related to Type 1 diabetes.
More than 450,000 Oklahoma adults suffer from diabetes, and more than one million more having prediabetes, the American Diabetes Association estimates. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in Oklahoma, giving the state the fourth-highest age-adjusted diabetes death rate in the nation. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, amputation, heart disease, kidney failure and early death – all of which are preventable with proper management.
HB 1019 was approved 94-2 by the House of Representatives and 32-15 by the Senate.