Senate Push to Cap Insulin Prices at $35 for Commercial Plans

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is urging Senate leadership to schedule a floor vote on bipartisan legislation that would limit out-of-pocket insulin costs to $35 for people with commercial insurance. The measure expands the $35 Medicare cap enacted in President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and adds a pilot program in ten states to cap costs for uninsured patients. The bill has attracted 28 co-sponsors, split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, providing a potential 60-vote majority if all Democrats support it. A Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee vote in July approved the proposal 17-5.

The Hill

The bipartisan effort is led by Senators Shaheen, Susan Collins (R-ME), Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and John Kennedy (R-LA). In the House, a companion version was introduced earlier this month by Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO), Angie Craig (D-MN), Kim Schrier (D-WA), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) and Rob Bresnahan (R-PA). Opposition includes HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who voted against the bill, arguing it creates an unnecessary and duplicative government grant program and that many community health centers already provide deep discounts on insulin.

The Hill

She also reported personal outreach to the White House and ongoing staff-level discussions about attaching the measure to a year-end spending bill or the defense policy and spending authorization package. No guarantee exists that a vote will occur this week, but proponents view inclusion in a year-end omnibus as the most viable path forward.

The Hill

• “President Trump campaigned on immediately lowering costs for the American people, yet he’s done just the opposite. With millions of American families facing spiking prices as a result of this Administration’s disastrous health care policies, my INSULIN Act is one immediate step Congress can take to directly lower costs for millions of Americans,” — Story Sen. Jeanne Shaheen

The Hill

Legislative advocates are exploring the possibility of embedding the insulin cap in a must-pass defense and spending authorization bill slated for consideration before the end of the year. Discussions continue about the timing of a floor vote and the potential impact of the pilot program on uninsured patients in the ten selected states.

The Hill