STATE SENATOR
Derek Slap
DEPUTY MAJORITY LEADER
YOUR VOICE COUNTS
- Representing
- West Hartford,
- Farmington,
- Burlington,
- Bloomfield
WEST HARTFORD – State Senator Derek Slap (D-West Hartford) welcomed a new state law takes effect on January 1, 2021 requiring pharmacists to dispense a 30-day emergency supply of diabetes-related drugs and devices – with a price cap – for diabetics who have less than a one-week supply of insulin or supplies.
Just under 10 percent of Connecticut residents – about 275,000 people — have diabetes, which is the seventh-leading cause of death in the state, according to the state Department of Public Health
“It’s unconscionable that anyone should have to limit or go without a common and widely-available life-saving drug on an emergency basis in America in 2021. The Connecticut legislature stepped in to help resolve this crisis, and our residents will be better for it,” Sen. Slap said today. “I want to thank Senators Marty Looney and Matt Lesser for raising this issue and making this bill a priority for the 2020 legislative session. We got it done, and we got it done on a pretty bipartisan basis, even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. But it was an important bill that needed attention and passage right away.”
House Bill 6003, “An Act Concerning Diabetes and High Deductible Health Plans,” was introduced in February 2020 by the Senate Chair of the Insurance & Real Estate Committee, state Senator Matt Lesser (D-Middletown), by Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven), and by a host of other legislators and health advocates.
The bill was passed into law on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis during the July 2020 legislative special session, with just five Republicans voting “no.” The bill had more than 50 bipartisan co-sponsors, including Sen. Slap.
The Health Care Cost Institute reported earlier this year that annual insulin costs for diabetics nearly doubled between 2012 and 2016, rising from an average of $2,865 to $5,700. The Institute also referenced news reports of individuals with diabetes who had to ration their insulin because they couldn’t afford higher prices.
Connecticut’s new law effective January 1 allows for emergency diabetes-related prescriptions once a year, and it covers insulin as well as glucagon drugs and diabetes devices such as blood glucose test strips, lancets and insulin syringes.
The new law requires people to inform their pharmacist that they have less than a week’s supply of diabetes-related drugs or devices remaining, and pharmacists – using their professional judgment and first checking with the state’s electronic prescription drug monitoring program – can then issue the emergency drugs or supplies.
The law limits the patient’s cost either to their insurance plan co-payment or, if they lack insurance, to “the usual customary charge to the public for these items.”
A section of the bill capping out-of-pocket expenses at $100 per year takes effect in another year, on January 1, 2022.
Related links: