Only covering about a third of NJ residents

This week marked the first time diabetic folks on Medicare didn’t have to pay more than $35 for a month’s supply of insulin. The price cap — enacted as part of the federal Inflation Reduction Act — now helps some 77,000 New Jersey residents afford a drug they need to live.

“The costs of insulin have been going up rapidly, and this will provide peace of mind for these tens of thousands older New Jerseyans who need this lifesaving drug,” says AARP’s Evelyn Liebman.

But the federal cap applies only to Medicare recipients. The skyrocketing cost of prescription medicine is forcing everyone to struggle. That’s why Trenton lawmakers are considering bills that would cap copays for several Rx drugs — including insulin, EpiPens and asthma inhalers — and also establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Board to study ways Big Pharma could further cut the high cost of vital medicines.

“Every day we wait is another day someone’s having to make that Hobson’s choice between their medicine or their rent, or their medicine and their food, or their mortgage payments. And we shouldn’t put people in those situations,” says bill sponsor Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington).

Original Article