Minnesota state Senate advances emergency insulin access bill
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A Minnesota state committee last week advanced a bill that would provide access to insulin for residents unable to afford the medication on an emergency and ongoing basis, according to a state Senate announcement.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee advanced a revised plan Feb. 13 that would create an insulin assistance program to assist Minnesotans who cannot afford the drug. The legislation would require individuals or families who meet income and insurance qualifications to pay a $75 copay for a 30-day supply.
Under the program, pharmacies would dispense up to a 3-month supply of insulin to individuals who present a valid prescription, complete an application and indicate that insulin is needed on an emergency basis. Each pharmacy that dispenses insulin, as well as insulin manufacturers, must participate in the program as a condition of doing business in the state, according to the bill.
A Minnesota House version of the bill also calls for insulin manufacturers to pay an insulin registration fee to cover costs of the program; an amendment to the Senate bill offered by Sen. Melissa Wiklund that would have imposed a similar fee on insulin manufacturers was rejected by the committee.
“One of the big differences we have between this bill and the bill I introduced is looking at how the emergency insulin is paid for,” Wiklund said during a committee meeting Feb. 13, broadcast on the state’s Senate media services website. “I wanted to discuss changing the model in this bill to something more similar to the other bill, having an insulin registration and licensing fee, which would be collected from manufacturers to cover the cost of the emergency insulin. The current bill requires that funding come from state appropriations, and from my perspective, that isn’t the direction we want to go.”
Sen. Scott Jensen, MD, a primary care clinician who sponsored the senate legislation, said he believes that the manufacturers will eventually support “about 90%” of the program.
“The pharmaceutical companies are hearing the message. We all know that, just by the frequency of their visits to our office,” Jensen said during the meeting. “To do something like [impose a fee] today would be premature.”
“It’s not about punishing business that are profitable,” Sen. Julie Rosen said during the meeting. “It’s about how we can provide a lifesaving drug to those in need. The state does have a responsibility in that.”
In an op-ed published Feb. 3, Gov. Tim Walz and Melissa Hortman, speaker of the Minnesota House, wrote that the legislation — known as “Alec’s Bill,” for a man who died after rationing insulin — would provide “critical relief” to Minnesotans struggling to afford insulin.
“Alec’s Bill would place a small fee on insulin manufacturers to create an emergency insulin fund so diabetics can get an emergency dose of insulin,” Walz and Hortman wrote. “Centered around patients, the bill would create a safety net to ensure Minnesotans can get the insulin they need at a price they can afford.”
The Minnesota legislation follows similar efforts that have passed in two other states. As Healio previously reported, Illinois in January became the second state in the nation to cap insulin at $100 for a 30-day supply to make the drug more affordable for the state’s estimated 1.3 million adults with diabetes. Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado signed the first bill in the nation in May that capped insulin copays for people with private insurance at $100 per month, regardless of the number of vials needed. The Colorado law also enlisted the state’s attorney general to investigate the rising price of insulin in the state and make recommendations to the general assembly for further action.
In published reports, Minnesota state senators on the committee said they would continue to work on the legislation as it makes its way through more committees. – by Regina Schaffer
References:
Senate Media Services. Available at: www.senate.mn/media/. Accessed Feb. 18, 2020.
Walz T, et al. Cost of insulin shouldn’t be a cause for death. Star Tribune. Feb. 3, 2020. Available at: www.startribune.com/cost-of-insulin-shouldn-t-be-cause-for-death/567476162/. Accessed Feb. 18, 2020.