Hochul signs bill capping consumer cost for epinephrine auto-injectors at $100

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday she had signed legislation aimed at making epinephrine — currently the only drug capable of preventing a fatal allergic reaction — more affordable.

The state legislation will require health insurers to cover epinephrine auto-injectors and cap the out-of-pocket costs consumers may have to pay at $100, Hochul’s office said in a release Thursday.

The cost of epinephrine auto-injectors — most commonly referred to by the brand name EpiPen — has outpaced the rate of inflation over the past several years, ballooning from $60 per device to upward of $600 for a two-pack, according to the release.

“For people with severe allergies, immediate access to an Epi-Pen device can mean the difference between life and death,” Hochul said in a statement. “When every second counts, the last thing New Yorkers should have to worry about is whether they can afford the medication they need to survive an anaphylactic reaction. By signing this bill, we are putting people over profit and giving New Yorkers peace of mind by ensuring equitable access to this lifesaving emergency treatment.”

Many Long Islanders who need epinephrine prescriptions in case of a bee sting or accidentally consuming an allergen such as nuts or shellfish, or even to stave off side effects of allergy shots, struggle to get their insurance to cover EpiPens, and will even delay purchasing them after the products run their 12-month shelf life, according to Dr. Shaan Waqar, an allergist and immunologist with ENT and Allergy Associates’ Plainview office.

“Very frequently, we encounter issues with the EpiPens being denied or requiring prior authorizations, and those prior authorizations don’t always easily go through,” Waqar said “There are patients who are hesitant to pick up an EpiPen … if the last time they tried to get one they had to pay a few hundred dollars for that device, which brings safety issues into the conversation.”

The allergist and immunologist said there is “variability” among insurers and plans, adding that some of his patients pay $15 co-pays for their epinephrine auto-injectors. But getting insurance to cover any portion of the cost can sometimes require reissuing prescriptions for different brands or generic pens. Waqar and other practitioners “kind of just rotate through them until we finally find something that can work for the patient,” he said. “But all of that will usually create a delay,” in getting a patient the lifesaving device they need.

Waqar said he thinks legislating insurers and capping patient costs will “really help enhance patient access for their epinephrine autoinjectors.”

“Capping the out-of-pocket cost at $100 for the EpiPen, I think that’s very reasonable for most patients,” he added. “It’s still a decent price, but it’s way better than what it has been quoted for some patients.”

The new law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.