FRANKFORT, Ky. — A state Senate panel on Tuesday expanded a bill aimed at making insulin more affordable for the multitude of Kentuckians relying on lifesaving insulin supplies.
Before advancing the bill to limit out-of-pocket costs paid by many Kentuckians for insulin, the committee added language to create an insulin assistance fund to help people struggling to afford the medication. The measure then cleared the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.
Republican Sen. Phillip Wheeler said the fund would expand the number of people receiving relief from high insulin costs. The fund would be backed by a fee on every unit of insulin authorized through a pharmacy benefit manager in Kentucky. Wheeler didn’t estimate how much would be raised. Diabetics would apply for assistance from the state-run fund.
No state General Fund dollars would support the fund, he said.
“The fund will only pay out as long as it has money in it,” Wheeler said.
The bill now heads to the full Senate. The original measure, still intact, would limit out-of-pocket costs at $100 per prescription for a 30-day insulin supply. That cap would apply to people with commercial health insurance plans. It won 92-0 House passage.
About 500,000 Kentuckians are diagnosed with diabetes.
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