EpiPen costs capped at $60 soon per new Colorado law

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Governor Polis signed a series of laws in Denver on Wednesday, one of which caps the cost of a two pack of EpiPens in the state to $60.

“We heard from testimony during committee that people had to have expired EpiPen’s because they couldn’t have up-to-date medication with them because they couldn’t afford it,” said Rep. Iman Jodeh, a democrat who sponsored the legislation. “Coloradans need life-saving medication and it should never have to come down to cost.”

Sixty dollars is a fraction of what families have been paying for EpiPens. Some reports indicate prices as high as $700.

In Colorado’s House of Representatives, the law got 50 ‘yes’ votes and 14 ‘no’ votes on May 7th, and prior votes resulted in similar numbers. While some republican representatives voted yes, all of the no votes on May 7th were from republicans.

Rep. Anthony Haratsook is one who voted no.

“I don’t like the government telling businesses, ‘Here is the price, this is what you can charge,’” Hartsook told 11 News. “I understand the consumers. They were paying some expensive prices. Well then, let’s put out what the actual price of these things are. Let’s publish this price transparency, so that consumers can see what’s out there, and then they can start shopping around.”

The new law is modeled after the state’s insulin price cap law, passed previously.

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