WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee advanced the INSULIN Act (S. 4189), a bipartisan bill which is supported by P4ADNow. The legislation would:
- Establish a $35 monthly out-of-pocket cap for people with private insurance, limiting cost-sharing for insulin at $35 or 25% of a plan’s negotiated price, whichever is lower. Patients with Medicare have had such protections since 2022.
- Crack down on pharmaceutical companies’ abuse of citizen petitions by allowing the FDA to reject petitions filed solely to delay generic or biosimilar competition.
The bill passed out of Committee with an added amendment to create a pilot program that would provide grants to states to provide insulin to uninsured patients.
In response, P4ADNow CEO Merith Basey released the following statement:
“The $35 insulin co-pay cap has successfully lowered monthly costs for patients on Medicare, and people with private insurance deserve the same protection from exorbitant prices. We applaud the HELP Committee for advancing the bipartisan INSULIN Act and urge Congress to get it across the finish line.”
P4ADNow sent a letter to the Committee yesterday ahead of the hearing in support of the INSULIN Act.
Today’s markup follows last month’s HELP Committee advancement of two other bipartisan bills aimed at increasing competition and lowering prescription drug prices: The Biosimilar Red Tape Elimination Act (S. 1954), which would reduce unnecessary regulatory hurdles that slow the adoption of lower-cost biosimilars, and the Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act (S. 2658), which would strengthen oversight of the patent system and close loopholes that delay competition.
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Patients For Affordable Drugs Now is the only national, patient advocacy organization focused exclusively on policies to lower drug prices. We empower and mobilize patients and allies, hold accountable those in power, and fight to shape and achieve system-changing policies that make prescription drugs affordable for all people in the United States. P4ADNow is bipartisan and does not accept funding from organizations that profit from the development or distribution of prescription drugs. To learn more, visit: PatientsForAffordableDrugsNOW.org