May 23 (UPI) -- Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law Thursday, making it the first state to place a cap on insulin payments.
The bill places a $100 limit for co-payments on insulin medications for people with private insurance. Costs for insulin have increased more than 700 percent to between $600 and $900 in the past 20 years.
"Today we declare that the days of insulin price gouging are over in Colorado," Polis said.
The law doesn't place limits on what insulin manufacturers can charge insurance companies, which are expected to pay the difference.
Polis said the bill was passed in honor of "the 400,000 Coloradans who live with diabetes every day" and Murphy Roberts, the brother of the bill's sponsor, state Rep. Dylan Roberts, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 10 and died three years.
"Just looking at the price of those insulin vials coming in, I knew even at that age how big of a burden that could be," Roberts said.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is also required to investigate why drug manufacturers have rapidly increased the price they charge for insulin and the Department of Law is set to issue a report on the findings by November 2020.
Roberts said the information gathered in the investigation could help other states in their pursuit of cap prices on insulin co-pays.
