OKLAHOMA TAKES A HISTORIC STEP ON INSULIN AFFORDABILITY
SB 1344 just made history for patients with diabetes
Quick Context
Oklahoma just made history — and patients across the country have reason for hope.
On May 1, 2026, Governor Kevin Stitt signed SB 1344 into law, creating the Insulin Access and Affordability Program. Oklahoma is now the first state in the nation to seed a biosimilar insulin competitor with the goal of breaking the three-company oligopoly that has controlled roughly 90% of the U.S. insulin market for decades. ALDP was proud to advocate alongside patients, lawmakers, and advocates who made this happen.
WHAT SB 1344 DOES
SB 1344 is not Oklahoma producing insulin. It is Oklahoma lowering the barrier to market entry — and letting competition do the rest.
The Insulin Access and Affordability Program works like this: state funds seed a biosimilar insulin competitor. Every public dollar must be matched by private investment. A binding agreement must be in place before any funds are released. If the manufacturer fails to deliver, the state is repaid. Once a viable competitor enters the market, the program sunsets. And lower prices must reach patients — not get absorbed elsewhere in the system.
Why This Matters to OKLAHOMANS
More than 400,000 Oklahoma adults have diabetes. More than one million have prediabetes. And nationally, more than one in five working-age diabetic adults has rationed insulin due to cost — stretching doses in ways that can lead to serious complications or worse.
Oklahoma already caps out-of-pocket insulin costs at $30 for a 30-day supply, giving insured patients some protection. But that cap doesn’t lower the price of the drug. It shifts the cost to employers, plan members, and taxpayers — and it leaves uninsured patients fully exposed.
What’s broken is the market itself. Three companies have a long history of pricing insulin at five to ten times what patients in other countries pay for the same product. No other developed country faces this problem to the same degree. The U.S. has lacked a real biosimilar competitor. SB 1344 tries to create one.
Only about 60% of states have passed an out-of-pocket insulin cap at all. Much of the South, the Upper Midwest, and the Mountain West have not. If Oklahoma’s program succeeds, the benefits won’t stay inside its borders. That makes SB 1344 one of the more public-spirited pieces of state legislation in recent memory.
WHAT’s STILL NEEDED
SB 1344 is a beginning, not an ending.
A biosimilar competitor will take time to reach market. Out-of-pocket caps help insured patients today but don’t lower the underlying price of the drug. Pharmacy access remains a challenge across Oklahoma — 40 counties already have a pharmacy desert, and rural patients remain the most vulnerable to both high prices and limited access.
ALDP will continue working in Oklahoma and across the country to advance reforms that lower drug prices at the source, protect pharmacy access, and ensure that patients — particularly rural and uninsured people — see the benefit of every dollar saved.
What Happens Next
✓ The legislature has adjourned for 2026
✓ With SB 1344 signed into law, we now must work to ensure its speedy and effective implementation
✓ ALDP will continue working with Oklahomans to call for wider drug price reform. For every patient, family and small business that worries about cost and access today, we need lower prices that actually reach patients, through market reforms that fix the underlying problem rather than simply manage its symptoms