FRANKFORT, Ky. - A cap on insulin prices has cleared one chamber of Kentucky's general assembly. House Bill 12 caps the deductible for a 30-day supply of insulin at $100 dollars. The price of insulin has jumped 550 percent since 2006, when you adjust for inflation, and several lawmakers sponsored this bill to keep those costs from rising even more.  

About 450-thousand people have diabetes in Kentucky, and the bill’s sponsor, Representative Danny Bentley, is one of them.  

“We have people who are insulin, because of the cost of it, are rationing their insulin. Say they’re on 90 units a day and they think they can go 30-30-30 for three days. Then their sugar gets so high that they get ketoacidosis, and they die because they get flu like symptoms, coma and then death,” Rep. Danny Bentley-(R) Russell, said.

Several other sponsors either have diabetes or know someone who has the disease, including Representative Charles Booker, who says he nearly died after rationing his insulin in 2018. He spoke about his first ever meeting with Bentley on the house floor.  

“The moment that I knew I met a brother of mine is when I shared how I was laying in the hospital bed, my body had shut down on me. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t wash myself, I couldn’t lift my arms to help my daughters. I thought I was done. I shared that with him. He understood what that was about and he told me that we were going to work together to help make things better so that no other Kentuckian has to live that, because there are a lot of Kentuckians that aren’t as fortunate as I am to be on my two feet today,” Rep. Charles Booker-(D) Louisville, said.

The bill was amended to exempt state employees covered by government-insured plans— and also prevents insurers from charging more if the cost of insulin happens to be under $100 for a patient.

The bill passed unanimously and now moves to the senate.