Effort to cap insulin prices in Tennessee fails in committee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — An effort to cap prescription insulin prices in Tennessee at $35 per 30-day supply recently failed in the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee.

Memphis Sen. London Lamar (D) filed a bill with Nashville Rep. Justin Jones (D) that would cap the monthly cost of insulin to those on TennCare and even private insurance plans at $35 like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) does for Medicare patients.

According to Lamar, there are about 900,000 Tennesseans with diabetes in Tennessee that stood to benefit from her bill.

Of those, a little less than 40,000 use Medicare, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Using 2019 data in a January 2023 report, CMS estimated there were 39,562 enrollees in Medicare Part D and B in Tennessee who would have benefitted from the insulin cap in 2020. According to the same report from CMS, those patients would have saved an average of $494 annually on prescription insulin had the IRA been in effect in 2020.

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Lamar told News 2 she wanted to bring the bill because “one in six Tennesseans have diabetes or are prediabetic,” including herself, and all those Tennesseans deserved equitable access to the life-saving medication.

“I know firsthand how much it costs to afford insulin on a regular basis, which is a medicine that you need every day to be able to live and be able to not be overcome by the outcomes of diabetes,” she told News 2.

All prescription medicine in America needs to be more affordable, she added, in order for everyone to afford the healthcare they need, but insulin prices are “astronomical.”

“What I want us to do is to ensure that this necessary medicine is capped at $35 so that everyone from those who are rich to middle class or poor can all afford this medicine that they need,” she said. “Until we create a healthier Tennessee, this is an essential prescription drug that everyone needs that should be affordable.”

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But when the bill got to the Senate committee, no one offered to second the motion on the bill, meaning it died without any debate or discussion.

Committee Chairman Sen. Paul Bailey was the only lawmaker who asked a question about the bill, asking Lamar before it was fully on the floor for debate about the federal $35-per-month cap. Lamar said that only applied to those using Medicare; her bill expanded the number of eligible patients to encompass the entire state.

According to Lamar, the committees’ inaction on her bill shows where their priorities lie.

“The pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies don’t want to have to be mandated to cap insulin at $35. They want to be able to set the price that they want to set,” she told News 2. “The committee members just made it be known that they are listening to them over the needs of the people.”

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Lamar added committee members brought their concerns about the bill to her before she presented, and it was clear to her they “sided with them,” meaning the pharmaceutical and insurance companies.

According to Lamar, the bill would have benefitted Tennesseans everywhere, it would have significantly benefitted Tennesseans in the districts represented by many of the committee members.

“Individuals in rural communities are more like socioeconomically disadvantaged, so a $35, 30-day supply insulin cap would help them,” Lamar told News 2. “They are also the ones experiencing hospital closures and medical services exiting their counties. It would absolutely benefit those individuals.”

The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee is comprised of Sen. Paul Bailey (R-Sparta), Sen. Art Swann (R-Maryville), Sen. Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains), Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis), Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), Sen. Shane Reeves (R-Rutherford County), Sen. Steve Southerland (R-Morristown), Sen. Bo Watson (R-Hixson) and Sen. Ken Yager (R-Kingston).

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According to a 2023 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps report, Hancock County, in Niceley’s district, had the sixth-highest rate of diabetes in the state. Scott, Fentress, Morgan and Campbell counties, all in Yager’s district, were among the top 25 highest rates of diabetes in Tennessee as well, per the report. Southerland’s Cocke County also made the list at #16, and Hamblen County came in at #25.

The counties with the highest estimated rate of diabetes in Tennessee were Haywood (#1), Lake (#2), Lauderdale (#3), Hardeman (#4) and Shelby (#5), the report states.

Hundreds of bills will be up for debate during the 113th General Assembly. Tennessee lawmakers shared their thoughts on some of the major issues up for discussion at this year’s legislative session.

You can also find daily coverage from the session here.

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