By: Mary Steurer (North Dakota Monitor)
The Senate on Tuesday voted 39-7 to pass a bill to cap monthly insulin costs for more North Dakotans.
House Bill 1114 would limit out-of-pocket costs for a monthly supply of insulin at $25 for the state’s commercial insurance market. It would also establish a $25-a-month cap on insulin-related medical supplies.
The new caps would affect North Dakotans on individual, small group and large group insurance plans within the fully insured market. The bill doesn’t apply to the self-insured market.
The bill will cost about $834,000 for the 2025-2027 budget cycle, according to a fiscal analysis on the Legislature’s website.
“I would argue, in the long run, a proposal like this will save money as more North Dakotans will be able to avoid a situation where they’re rationing insulin or missing treatment because of the cost,” said Sen. Sean Cleary, R-Bismarck, who carried the bill on the floor.
No senators spoke against the bill Tuesday.
Advocates who submitted testimony on the proposal said that insulin caps are needed in order to ensure the treatment is available to all who need it.
Opponents have said that the policy would unfairly shift costs to groups like businesses and insurers.
House Bill 1114 passed the House in February. The bill will still need to go before Gov. Kelly Armstrong before it can become law.
The same insulin caps were piloted in state employee health plans beginning in 2023.
State law requires any health insurance mandates to be tested on state employee plans before introducing them to the North Dakota commercial market.
Some other health insurance plans in the state, like North Dakota Affordable Care Act plans, already have their own caps.
The three largest manufacturers for the U.S. insulin market, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, all recently lowered the cost of their insulin products.
Because of those price cuts, the North Dakota Public Employee Retirement System board found that the pilot program was not significantly costly to the state.The Senate earlier this session passed a separate proposal, Senate Bill 2370, that would continue the caps for state employee insurance plans but not extend them to the North Dakota commercial market. That bill is scheduled for a hearing before the House Human Services committee Wednesday.
