SEN JEAN SHAHEEN: One immediate way Congress can ease families' insulin costs
Every time I talk to a constituent, I hear grave concerns about the high cost-of-living.That's especially true of health care costs.One-third of Americans now report cutting back to afford health care expenses.
Poll after poll indicate that health care costs routinely outrank Americans' other economic concerns.Earlier this year, roughly 75 percent of voters said health care affordability would influence their vote in upcoming elections.At a time when many families are feeling squeezed by rising prices, Congress should focus on areas where we can make a meaningful and immediate difference.
Lowering the cost of insulin is one of them. BIPARTISAN SENATE BILL TO CAP INSULIN FOR AMERICANS AT $35 HAS NEW MOMENTUMDoctor using digital glucose meter for check sample blood sugar level to treatment diabetes.(iStock)Unlike many household expenses, insulin is not something patients can cut back on when money is tight. Nearly 8.4 million Americans use insulin to manage their diabetes.
Yet as many as one in five people who use insulin have reported rationing it because of cost, putting their health at risk.For people with Type 1 diabetes, insulin is quite literally a matter of life and death.Even families with insurance are increasingly reporting that premiums, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs feel more and more unaffordable. In the richest country on earth, people should not have to choose between lifesaving medicine and paying their bills. Fortunately, we don't have to guess what works to make insulin affordable for the millions of Americans who rely on it to survive.
The Inflation Reduction Act capped monthly insulin costs for Medicare beneficiaries, protecting seniors from the high cost of a medicine they depend on every day. Diabetes becomes 'silent epidemic' as millions remain unaware they have deadly condition (iStock)The results speak for themselves.According to a recent Johns Hopkins analysis, the share of Medicare patients paying $35 o...