APPLETON, Wis. — Wisconsin could be the 30th state with insulin price caps. State lawmakers are considering a bill that would limit the amount insurance companies can charge for insulin.

One in eleven Wisconsinites lives with this disease, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Insulin is a life-saving medication for people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes means a person’s body has completely stopped making insulin. Those who have Type 2 diabetes have bodies that produce insulin, but the cells don’t respond to insulin the way they should.

Julia Flaherty has Type 1 diabetes, so she needs daily insulin injections to live. Flaherty said even with using her health insurance and insulin co-pay cards, insulin prices are astronomical.

“I usually pay close to $200 each time I need to refill both of my insulin,” Flaherty said.

Flaherty has lived with Type 1 diabetes since 2004 and is now a diabetes advocate. She said to offset insulin costs, some diabetics are forced to make risky health decisions.

“They’re taking less than they should because they can’t afford the amount that they should be filling at the pharmacy counter, and when you’re rationing your insulin, it can lead to severe complications, like diabetic ketoacidosis, which can be life-threatening,” Flaherty said.

In 1923, Sir Frederick Banting sold his insulin patent for a symbolic dollar to the University of Toronto. Banting believed it was unethical to profit from his life-saving invention.

Nowadays, insulin can cost over $300. Flaherty said this price surge for a life-saving medication is deeply troubling.

“When I’m paying those high prices at the pharmacy counter, I often think about that and wish that my prices were lower because then I could focus less on the costs,” Flaherty said.

That’s why lawmakers decided to do something about it.

“Twenty-nine other states in this country have some type of price cap when it comes to insulin. Wisconsin needs to be the 30th state,” state Sen. Brad Pfaff, D-La Crosse, said.

Pfaff helped introduce the bill that would cap insulin prices in Wisconsin at $35 a month. He said the fight to lower insulin costs is personal.

“My son has Type 1 diabetes. Compared to the price that we pay, versus what it costs to manufacture, process, and distribute, the manufacturer is making a tremendous amount of money here, and that is why I think it’s long overdue that Wisconsin moves forward and caps the price of insulin,” Pfaff said.

The bill would provide a stable, affordable solution for the thousands who need insulin, but Flaherty said she questions the future if this legislation stalls.

She said insulin copay cards are a temporary fix.

“There’s no guarantee that these programs will continue to exist, and when you live with this disease that requires insulin to survive, you’re anxious about when will these programs be eliminated?” Flaherty said.

Pfaff said there is bipartisan support for this bill. He said he hopes to get it through both houses of the legislature and signed by the governor this calendar year.