Virginia General Assembly caps insulin costs at $50 a month

One of the biggest bills of the year is one nobody is talking about, Del. Mike Mullin, D-Newport News, wrote in a tweet on Friday — a hard cap on the price of insulin in Virginia.

Insurers are now limited to charging a maximum of $50 a month for the drug after Del. Lee Carter, D-Manassas, urged colleagues to accept a Senate amendment to his bill. The price is a little higher than his original cap of $30, but still the lowest ceiling for insulin in the country, he said on the House floor.

Insulin prices have tripled over the last decade as the drug’s four main manufacturers have raised the baseline cost. Virginia is the latest state to pass its own controls amid nationwide reports of patients dying after rationing the vital medication.

There have been Congressional hearings over the rising costs, but federal regulators still haven’t settled on a solution to lower prices. Virginia is the third state to pass a law limiting the cost of insulin.

Read more: https://www.virginiamercury.com/blog-va/virginia-general-assembly-caps-insulin-prices-at-50-a-month/