A pair of bills may provide financial relief for Texans dependent on insulin. Senate Bill 827 and House Bill 18 are headed to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk, and if signed and enacted, the legislation would drastically reduce the cost of prescription insulin beginning in September. 

One of the sponsors of the bill is Rep. James Talarico (D), who found out three years ago he had Type 1 diabetes, which accounts for approximately only 5% of all diabetes cases in the U.S., and is also known as insulin-dependent diabetes. Those with type 1 diabetes are unable to produce insulin on their own. 

Talarico told a San Antonio news station, KSAT, that when he went to a local drugstore to pick up his first 30-day dose of insulin after being diagnosed, he had to pay $684 out-of-pocket, even though he had health insurance. 

The Senate bill would cap the cost for prescription insulin for insured Texans at $25, KSAT reports. For uninsured Texans, the House bill would provide the life-saving medication at a reduced rate via a new drug-savings program. 

Talarico told KSAT that “Both pharmaceutical companies and health insurance companies are profiting off the suffering of Texans with diabetes, and this legislation will help put an end to that.”