Emma Kleck has been totally dependent on insulin, the lifesaving medication for people living with diabetes, for 25 years.<\/p>\n
Kleck, 32, of Santa Cruz, was diagnosed with the rarer\u00a0Type\u00a01 diabetes at age 7. About 3.5 million Californians have a form of diabetes and need constant doses of insulin, a hormone that keeps blood sugar levels in check, to stay alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so reliant on this liquid,\u201d Kleck said. \u201cI guess I try not to think about it a lot. I wouldn\u2019t be functional without it after three or four hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Emma](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/SJM-L-INSULIN-1214-02.jpg\")
Emma Kleck, of Santa Cruz, holds a vial of insulin next to her tattoo while at her home in Santa Cruz, Calif., on Friday, Dec.12, 2025. Kleck has type I diabetes since 2001. California is getting into the insulin business. In January, the state will begin selling a long-acting insulin for diabetes patients at $55 for roughly a month’s supply. (Jose Carlos Fajardo\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Insulin is notoriously expensive in the U.S. \u2014 more than 10 times the cost in other countries, according to one study.<\/a> Kleck, a nurse practitioner at a community health clinic in Santa Cruz, where half of her patients worry about affording their insulin, said some are forced to \u201cration\u201d their insulin in a dangerous attempt to save money.<\/p>\n Two new state policies that are expected to pull the cost of insulin back down to Earth have thrilled Kleck and others with diabetes in California.<\/p>\n Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a>, a Democrat, kickstarted a plan in 2020 to contract the manufacturing of California\u2019s own insulin and sell it for less. That strategy, though behind schedule, is finally bearing fruit: Generic insulin branded \u201cCalRx\u201d will reach the market in January, at the more-affordable price of $55 for about a month\u2019s supply. In 2019, the average person with diabetes paid about $82 per month. It\u2019s the first time a U.S. state will sell its own insulin.<\/p>\n In October, Newsom signed a separate law<\/a> that limits health insurance co-pays and deductibles for insulin to $35 a month. The governor vetoed a version of that bill in 2023<\/a>, angering some Democrats and diabetes advocates, but he reversed course this year. Depending on their health plan, Californians will see the benefits this January or in January 2027.<\/p>\n Two state lawmakers from the Bay Area pushed the bill across the finish line this year: Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Sen. Aisha Wahab of the East Bay and Silicon Valley, both Democrats.<\/p>\n The California-brand insulin and co-pay cap \u201ccomplement each other so well to give Californians more affordable options than ever before,\u201d said Christine Fallabel, a policy executive for the Virginia-based American Diabetes Association.<\/p>\n But the plans have some limits. So far, the state is only offering one type of insulin: glargine, a long-acting medication that isn\u2019t the main insulin used by many with the most common form of diabetes, Type 2, and all people living\u00a0with Type 1 diabetes. California\u2019s drug partnership is working on getting a fast-acting insulin to market for those patients.<\/p>\n And the market for insulin has changed fast. Since 2023, drug companies have cut costs voluntarily, spurred by government interventions like California\u2019s. Before that, in 2019, about 9% of people with diabetes were paying a whopping $315 per month, KFF Health News reported.<\/p>\n Prices for insulin are sky-high overall in the U.S., even though the medication is inexpensive for drug companies to produce. But the actual cost borne by those with diabetes\u00a0can vary wildly depending on their access to health insurance, the fine print of different health plans and the kind of insulin they use.<\/p>\n Christine Christiansen, who lives in Danville, said her son Jack was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2017. He is now 19\u00a0and studying at Notre Dame University.<\/p>\n For now, Jack is covered by his parents\u2019 Anthem health insurance, and a three-month supply of insulin costs the family $180, Christiansen said. But she said her son is anxious about his costs after he turns 26, when he\u2019ll need to obtain his own insurance.<\/p>\n