U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, on World Diabetes Day, Tuesday, Nov. 14 unveiled a plan to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month for Americans with diabetes. Walker working with other senate democrats was successful in winning the battle to enact the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress in 2022 successfully capping the cost of insulin for Medicare enrolees.
Now he and Lousiana senator John Kennedy are working to impose a $35 cap on the cost of insulin for Medicare enrollees and now he is looking to extend that benefit to others stricken with the disease.
During the World Diabetes Day reveal Warnock identified what he called “insulin deserts” in more than 25 percent of the nation’s communities, with 105 of those being in Georgia.
Warnock and Kennedy say the inability of residents in many of these areas to access costly medications, including insulin is a scourge on the overall health of the nation and contribute to poor health outcomes in these affected populations. contributing to the region’s widespread poor health outcomes.
Warnock pointed out in a study undertaken by his office, Insulin Deserts, the Urgency of Lowering the Cost of Insuil for everyone, that in the early 1920s, researchers discovered that injecting insulin into a diabetic 14-year-old would lower blood glucose levels and save the child’s life. Knowing the life-saving capabilities of this newly discovered drug, the researchers sold the patent to the University of Toronto for only $1.
“Despite progress over the last few years to lower out-of-pocket costs of insulin, unaffordable insulin remains pervasive across the country,” the study states. “This report confirms the need for legislation to make insulin affordable for both privately insured and uninsured Americans.
