Colorado becomes the first state to limit insulin costs

Beginning in January, Colorado residents with diabetes will not pay more than $ 100 a month out of pocket for insulin. Governor Jared Polis (D) on Wednesday signed a law setting a cap on drug costs, making Colorado the first state of its kind to do so.

The law limits the share of vital life-saving medicine under private insurance plans to $ 100. This does not directly change the price of insulin.

"Today, we will finally declare that gouging of the insulin price is over in Colorado," Polis said at a signing ceremony covered by CBS Denver.

Rep. Dylan Roberts (D), one of the co-authors of the bill, previously told the Denver Post that Coloradans could expect to pay "a few cents per person per month," more for the company. 39, insurance to cover new requirement.

Insulin has become a prime example of soaring drug prices in the United States. Colorado lawmakers have exposed the problem in the text of the bill, asserting that insulin prices have risen 555% over the last 14 years, even taking into account inflation.

According to CBS Denver, some Coloradans had co-payments of $ 600 to $ 900 a month for insulin. In a recent study conducted in Yale, 1 in 4 insulin users said they had underused the drug because of its cost.

At the same time, Colorado passed legislation allowing the state's finance and health policy department to develop a plan to begin importing prescription drugs from Canada. Such a plan would require the approval of the federal government before it can come into effect.