Four hundred and seventy-five dollars. According to a 2016 report , that’s the average price you can expect to spend monthly if you need insulin in the United States of America.
With such outrageous prices, it isn’t a surprise that I constantly hear from families and seniors struggling to afford their medications whether I’m in Duluth, or Grand Rapids, or Ely, or Princeton.
My belief is simple: a person should never have to choose between putting food on the table and affording life-saving medications. Unfortunately, in Minnesota and across the country, many are facing this grave reality.
As more and more Americans die from rationing their insulin, I believe members of Congress have a moral responsibility to act. This week, I introduced an amendment to the Lower Drug Costs Now Act that would directly lower the cost of insulin for patients. Currently insulin is one of the most rebated drugs on the market. My amendment requires that rebates go directly to consumers rather than middlemen, thereby reducing the cost of insulin by up to 75%.
Reducing the cost of prescription drugs, and specifically insulin, should not be a partisan issue. Unfortunately, politics got in the way of my amendment and it was stopped from even being debated in an open and fair way on the House floor.
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I am disappointed that gridlock and polarization has seeped into such a pressing issue, but I will not give up. As we head into the new year, reducing the price of insulin and other prescription drugs will continue to be one of my top priorities, and I will keep pressuring my colleagues to work together on policies like my amendment to directly lower costs for patients.
