WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Grassley has a clear position on this Congress’s priority list.
“You can bet your boots, families care a lot more about what they’re paying each month for their child’s insulin than impeaching the president,” the Iowa Republican said.
The issue has become something of a focus for Grassley, who is working to bring more Republicans behind the bipartisan package of reforms intended to lower drug prices that he co-sponsors and that President Trump highlighted during his State of the Union address this year.
Insulin and epipen costs are killing people. I lost a son recently due to his inability to afford insulin before his insurance kicked in on a new job. I am also type 1 diabetic and I’m very concerned about my insulin costs once I get on Medicare, which is not too far away. I have testified in the Indiana legislature and this session, both our Senate and house have failed to come up with a bill to cap insulin costs. My son was 39. I have learned that many are having to skip doses, ration the insulin, and/or not be able to afford it. Insulin dependent diabetics can not survive without insulin. Its is a life or death situation. People may not believe that, but it is exactly that. Kids become diabetic and they will also die if their parents’ insurance won’t cover insulin well or the deductibles are so high they can’t afford to buy the insulin.
It is time for the American public, AND the federal legislatures to wake up and get something done to help.
The system set up by drug makers, PBMs, insurance companies, and all the inbetweeners have it so that a bottle of insulin costing $7 can sell for around $500. That is criminal. And its a conspiracy that must be stopped. Drug makers donate to many politicians so they continue to support the corrupt system. Trump hasn’t done a thing but talk about things he doesn’t seem to really want to handle.
If insurance or drug makers would cover the costs of insulin, they would still come out ahead because the occurrence of high costs from amputations due to neuropathy, kidney disease and dialysis, retinopathy (diabetic blindness), liver/heart/kidney issues, and many other complications would be reduced, so the insurance companies would be well ahead of the game.
Insurance companies, drug makers, PBMs, and the rest are all greedy and that is what is driving them to keep drug prices high.