MAINE, USA — Maine Senator Angus King continues to call for a cap on the cost of insulin in the United States.
"This is a huge problem for diabetics, they have no choice," King said Wednesday. "And there's thousands of people in Maine and across the country who are having to make decisions about buying their insulin and keeping alive, or buying food, putting food on the table."
King introduced the Affordable Insulin Now Act in late February. The bill, if passed, would require Medicare and private insurance plans to make sure no patient's out-of-pocket cost for insulin exceeds $35 per month.
King said the bill is similar to an existing Maine law that caps the costs for people with state-regulated commercial insurance at $35 per month also.
"The fact that Maine has done it, and it works, and we have what amounts to a pilot we can point to makes it easier to get the work done down here," King said.
"The Affordable Insulin Now Act would build on Maine’s success nationwide, capping the out-of-pocket costs of insulin to the same $35 a month for users on both Medicare and private insurance," said King.
According to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, more than 100,000 Mainers have diabetes and need insulin. King said nationwide, diabetics spend an average of nearly $6,000 on insulin each year.