LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager, D-Clark County, on Thursday introduced a bill that would cap insulin prices at $35 per month for patients with private health insurance in Nevada.
WATCH | What a cap on insulin prices would mean for Nevadans
Yeager's bill — Assembly Bill 555 — comes with less than a month to go in the 2025 legislative session, which is scheduled to adjourn on June 2.
The bill was referred to the Assembly's Commerce & Labor Committee for hearings and a preliminary vote.
Legislative leaders have a small number of emergency bills they can use to introduce legislation late in the session, irrespective of deadlines for regular lawmaker and committee bills. AB 555 is one of Yeager's emergency measures.
"With the passage of this legislation, we are placing a hard cap on the cost of insulin for private insurance, no more than $35 for a 30-day supply," Yeager said at a morning news conference. "This is a promise we're making to tens of thousands of Nevadans who live with diabetes and have struggled for far too long with outrageous, unpredictable prices."
Yeager recounted stories from around the state, including parents skipping insulin doses so their children won't miss theirs, or senior citizens splitting vials to stretch their supply for a whole month.
"This is not, and should not, be acceptable," Yeager said. "And under Assembly Bill 555, it won't be tolerated."
According to the American Diabetes Association, 26 states and the District of Columbia already cap insulin prices. That includes Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.
Insulin price caps for people on Medicaid have been implemented at the national level, initially on a trial basis. President Joe Biden made them permanent when he signed the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, limiting costs to $35 per month.
But people on private insurance can pay varying rates, which prompted Yeager to introduce his bill. He said at his news conference that he looked forward to getting the bill through the Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who is set to introduce his own health-care measure soon.
Barb Hartzel, whose daughter has Type 1 diabetes, spoke at the news conference as well, discussing how critical insulin is in her daughter's care.
"Insulin is not optional for my daughter," Hartzel said. "It is not a luxury. It is not negotiable."
Despite that, she said families are cutting doses, delaying picking up refills or having to choose between groceries and their medicine. "What price tag would you put on your child's life?" she asked.
Back in 2017, Nevada lawmakers approved a bill that requires pharmaceutical companies to list the wholesale cost of prescription drugs that treat diabetes. But that bill didn't cap prices the way Yeager's measure seeks to do.
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