Insulin Pump Insurance Coverage Bill Heads to Carney

The Senate on Tuesday sent Senate Bill 107 to the governor with an amendment filed in the House.  Sponsored by Sen. Marie Pinkney and Rep. David Bentz, Senate Bill 107 would require individual, group, state employee and public assistance insurance plans to provide coverage of medically necessary insulin pumps at no cost to a covered individual. The amendment approved by the House on June 24 exempts two types of health plans to ensure the legislation complies with federal law. 

People with type 1 diabetes don’t produce insulin, a hormone that helps the body use sugar (glucose), a key source of energy that comes from carbohydrates. If you have type 1 diabetes you must make up for the lack of insulin with insulin therapy.

Meanwhile, people with type 2 diabetes produce insulin, but their bodies don’t use insulin properly, or they don’t produce enough insulin. Diet, exercise and medication can often work to control glucose levels. However, in certain cases, these measures aren’t enough, and insulin therapy is needed to better control blood sugar levels.

While insulin can be given by self-injection, people who take multiple daily injections of insulin may also consider using an insulin pump. An insulin pump provides continuous delivery of short acting insulin all day long. The insulin pump substitutes the need for long acting insulin. A pump also replaces the need for multiple daily injections with a continuous insulin infusion, and also helps to improve your blood sugar levels.

Senate Bill 107 Sponsors	Yes Votes	No Votes
Pinkney, Brown, Gay, Hansen, Mantzavinos, Sokola, Sturgeon, Townsend, Walsh	Senate passed 21-0. Brown Ennis Gay Hansen Lockman Mantzavinos Paradee Pinkney Poore S.McBride Sokola Sturgeon Townsend Walsh Bonini Hocker Lawson Lopez Pettyjohn Richardson Wilson	None
Bentz, Bush, Kowalko, Lambert, S.Moore, Morrison, Wilson-Anton	House Passed 41-0. Baumbach Bennett Bentz Bolden Brady Bush Carson Chukwuocha Cooke Dorsey-Walker Griffith Heffernan K.Johnson K.Williams Kowalko Lambert Longhurst Lynn Matthews Minor-Brown Mitchell Morrison Osienski S.Moore Schwartzkopf Wilson-Anton Briggs King Collins D.Short Dukes Gray Hensley M.Smith Morris Postles Ramone Shupe Smyk Spiegelman Vanderwende Yearick	None
Current Status:	Sent to the Governor.

“Insulin is a daily necessity for every one of the nearly 100,000 men, women and children in Delaware living with diabetes and insulin pumps can be a life-changing and live-saving device,” said Sen. Pinkney. “Unfortunately, the other realities facing diabetes patients are inflated prices and high insurance costs. That’s unacceptable and this legislation will remove some of the cost burden from decisions about how to best manage diabetes.”