Fed up with the healthcare industry, this red state capped insulin prices for patients

For stories on the science of healthy living, subscribe to NPR's Health newsletter.HILLSBORO, N.D.— The Kritzberger family has farmed in the Red River Valley for more than a century.

They once had livestock.Now they grow sugar beets, soybeans and grains.Like many farmers, they labor to balance the books."We're in an incredible amount of debt," Ang Kritzberger said as she walked the farm on a recent fall morning.For the past 10 years, the Kritzbergers have had another worry.

Their daughter Nina has Type 1 diabetes.That landed the family in a national debate about how to protect patients from high insulin costs.Nina was diagnosed when she was 7."I slept by her bedside for the first 60 days," Ang Kritzberger said.

"And I had to stick her finger every two hours, 24 hours a day, to make sure that she was OK."The Kritzbergers also pay a lot out-of-pocket every year for medical care, despite having insurance — at least $8,000 for drugs, supplies and medical appointments.That's not uncommon.Soaring insulin prices for years forced people with diabetes to pay hundreds, even thousands, of dollars.

Many rationed insulin, with sometimes deadly consequences.But today, there's a growing movement across the country to cap what people with diabetes pay for insulin.That's brought together Democrats and Republicans, tapping an emerging consensus that the government should protect people from high drug prices."Typically, Republicans are more on the free-market side of things, Democrats are more supportive of intervening," said North Dakota state Sen.

Sean Cleary, a Republican."But in this case, I think there was broad-enough agreement that this market just wasn't functioning for folks."Cleary co-sponsored legislation last year to cap patients' insulin bills at $25 a month.

North Dakota is one of 29 states that have enacted such measures.The cap limits what patients have to pay out-of-pocket every month for insulin — even if they have a high deductible that might force them ...