Rep. Joseph J. Solomon Jr. (D-Dist. 22, Warwick) has prefiled legislation that would cap the amount health insurance providers can charge for co-pays for insulin. The act would limit required co-payments for a 30-day supply of insulin to $100.

“In four years, insulin prices have doubled,” said Representative Solomon. “For many with type 1 diabetes who need multiple doses of the drug every day just to survive, it means financial ruin.”

According to a 2018 survey by UpWell Health in Salt Lake City, half of people with diabetes have temporarily skipped taking insulin because of rising costs.

The pancreas of a person with Type 1 diabetes lacks the ability to make insulin. Insulin shots are the only way to keep blood glucose levels down in Type 1 diabetes sufferers.

Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. Its complications, including heart disease, stroke, amputations, blindness and kidney disease, are both serious and expensive. 

By 2012 the total cost of diabetes increased to $245 billion, meaning that the disease’s toll on the economy has increased by more than 40 percent since 2007, according to a report from the American Diabetes Association.