S. 1356·Middle School Experienced
A Bill to Cap Insulin Costs at $35 Per Month
Sen. Romero (D-NM)
Caps out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 per month across all federally regulated insurance plans.
Sec. 1 — Mandate
All federally regulated health insurance plans shall cap insulin out-of-pocket costs at $35 per 30-day supply.
Sec. 2 — Coverage
Applies to ACA marketplaces, Medicare, and Medicaid.
Sec. 3 — Funding
$3.4 billion over 10 years.
Sec. 4 — Enforcement
HHS oversight and CMS rulemaking.
Tournament Prep
Mechanical parts, sourced & timed
Use this as your pre-round checklist. Memorize the source citation. Time yourself to the delivery target.
- Bill / Number
- S. 1356 — A Bill to Cap Insulin Costs at $35 Per Month
- Funding source
- $3.4B over 10 years from general fund.
- Timeline
- Effective at next plan year.
- Realistic — Inflation Reduction Act (2022) already imposed Medicare insulin cap.
- Enforcing agency
- CMS + state insurance commissioners.
- Yes — CMS regulates ACA plans, Medicare, Medicaid.
- Penalty for non-compliance
- ACA market participation penalties.
- Source citation
- JAMA Internal Medicine, Rajkumar et al. (2020), 'The High Cost of Insulin in the United States' — jamanetwork.com.
- Delivery time (read aloud)
- 1:00 (60s)
Strongest counter-argument
Price caps will reduce R&D investment in next-generation insulin.
Your pre-emptive answer
Insulin is a 100-year-old molecule made by three manufacturers — there's no 'next-generation R&D' to disincentivize. JAMA (2020) showed U.S. list prices are 8-10x other developed countries with *no* corresponding innovation premium.