Illinois becomes 1st state to mandate EpiPen coverage for kids
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed House Bill 3435 this month, CNN reported—a law that will require insurance companies to cover all costs of EpiPen injections for anyone under 18 years old.
The law will take effect Jan. 1, 2020, according to CNN, and will affect all insurance companies in Illinois. EpiPen injectors have become increasingly unaffordable over the past decade, jumping from $100 for a pair of pens in 2009 to $600 for the same pair in 2016.
“With steady increases in food allergies and other serious allergic conditions, families are relying on EpiPens more than ever before,” Illinois State Senator Julie Morrison, a sponsor of the bill, said in statement. “We should be doing everything we can to expand access to affordable lifesaving drugs and medicines. No child with a serious allergy should be without an epinephrine injector because they cannot afford one.”
Tonya Winders, who heads the Allergy and Asthma Network, told CNN Illinois is the first state in the U.S. to mandate insurers cover EpiPen injections.
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After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.