House Approves Bill To Limit Insulin Costs To $35 Per Month
Given the extent of diabetes in America, the cost of insulin for consumers has become a political problem. It is also easier than the price of prescription drugs. In December, President Biden spoke on prescription drugs and the rising cost of insulin at a White House event.
“I think it is safe to say that everyone, regardless of our background, age, or where we live, can agree that prescription medications are outrageously costly in this country,” Mr. Biden stated at the event where diabetes patients shared their stories about trying to afford the medication.
Although the pace of debate on the larger legislation has slowed down, it has not stopped. Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a key centrist stalwart, has supported the bill’s prescription drug provisions, but he was more skeptical about the rest of the package.
On Thursday, Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of California tried to portray the passage of the insulin bill in California as progress towards her party’s wider drug-pricing agenda. She called insulin prices a “kitchen-table problem.”
She said, referring specifically to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, “It’s for us a step towards the secretary being in a position to negotiate lower drug prices than insulin.”
Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington and chairwoman of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has co-sponsored similar insulin legislation in her chamber. Although she stated that she was committed to passing the full range of prescription drug price reforms she said she did not consider the insulin issue urgent.
She stated that insulin is the main focus of her team because it has so many different effects on Americans.
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