August 8, 2022 12:00 pm
Democrats needed 60 votes to pass a $35 monthly cap on the price of insulin. Republicans, led by Senator Lindsey Graham, made sure that there would not be 10 Republican votes for the measure.
Republican lawmakers on Sunday successfully stripped a $35 price cap on the cost of insulin for many patients from the ambitious legislative package Democrats are moving through Congress this weekend, invoking arcane Senate rules to jettison the measure.
The insulin cap is a long-running ambition of Democrats, who want it to apply to patients on Medicare and private insurance. Republicans left the portion that applies to Medicare patients untouched but stripped the insulin cap for other patients. Bipartisan talks on a broader insulin pricing bill faltered earlier this year.
The Senate parliamentarian earlier in the weekend ruled that part of the Democrats’ cap, included in the Inflation Reduction Act, did not comply with the rules that allow them to advance a bill under the process known as reconciliation — a tactic that helps them avert a GOP filibuster. That gave the Republicans an opening to jettison it.
“Republicans have just gone on the record in favor of expensive insulin,” said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). “After years of tough talk about taking on insulin makers, Republicans have once against wilted in the face of heat from Big Pharma.”
Some Republicans did support the price cap in the 57-43 vote for the measure, but not enough joined Democrats in support of it to meet the threshold for passage.
More than 1 in 5 insulin users on private medical insurance pay more than $35 per month for the medicine, according to a recent analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Some 7 million Americans require insulin daily. A Yale University study found that 14 percent of those insulin users are spending more than 40 percent of their income after food and housing costs on the medicine.
The seven Republicans who voted with the Democrats were: Senators Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, and John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
Mary Trump tweeted that Josh Hawley, a fierce partisan, must have a relative with diabetes. Or maybe the Republicans drew straws to see who would cast a futile vote against a popular measure.
Tweet by @toylsome
Question: Will Republican voters remember in November?
Posted by dianeravitch
Categories: Accountability, Democrats, Health, Republicans
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For the record, this would only have been useful for those who have co-pays. A real solution would restrict the actual price, which the other countries mentioned have done. This would have been better than nothing, as is Obamacare, but we could do better.
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By Arthur Goldstein on August 8, 2022 at 12:48 pm
You mean “Romneycare”?
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By Duane E Swacker on August 8, 2022 at 7:10 pm
In Houston, there is a bus company that makes weekly trips to Nuevo Progreso, MX. People go there to buy insulin, and sometimes the uninsured see a doctor or dentist at the same time. It is also possible to drive, park on the American side and walk across the international bridge. I’ve never bought insulin, but people were saying that the border officials allow people to bring out insulin for personal use. People bring their own coolers as insulin must be refrigerated. It is sad that Americans cannot get affordable care in their own country. Insulin in MX is about $16 or $17 dollars.
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By retired teacher on August 8, 2022 at 1:03 pm
It doesn’t matter what most registered Republican voters think because there is nothing anyone can do to change their fascist thinking.
What counts is the independent voters that tend to lean Republican when they vote. Hopefully most of them are still capable of thinking individually instead of trapped in the fascist bubble with more than 60% or registered Republicans.
If the fascist Republican Party loses the independent vote, they will lost most of the elections, too.
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By Lloyd Lofthouse on August 8, 2022 at 1:44 pm
No one Should Vote Republican in November
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By Denise Cole on August 8, 2022 at 2:52 pm
Ever. It’s hazardous to everyone’s health.
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By GregB on August 8, 2022 at 3:20 pm
OK, the Republicans are just evil. That’s a given. But I will get excited when I see the national Democratic Party get behind dental care and medicare for all Americans. And not these pretend dental care bills that they have suggested and failed to pass that don’t even begin to put a dent into the cost of dental work. Many millions of American seniors cannot afford essential dental work. This is criminal. Obscene.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 8, 2022 at 3:22 pm
A single dental implant costs 3K-5K. Most seniors can’t afford this.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 8, 2022 at 3:39 pm
Before my mother passed 8 yrs ago, she recently had gotten appropriate hearing aids at a cost of over $2400. Medicare didn’t cover the cost and neither did her secondary insurance plan. One of her meds went from $12 for 3 months to over $375 per month with minimal insurance coverage. This is what we are stuck with now that “sick care” has become a fully privatized industry aimed at profit making.
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By LisaM on August 8, 2022 at 4:26 pm
It’s truly obscene. And even the Democratic plans amount to little or no care.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 8, 2022 at 4:58 pm
I want to defend Medicare. I know that it doesn’t cover everything but what it does cover is impressive.
When I had open heart surgery in 2021, the bills from the doctors, hospital and rehab were staggering. I was in intensive care for two weeks, hospitalized for a month. They told me later they weren’t sure I would make it. The bills were over $800,000. I paid $300.
My secondary is provided by the City of New York because I am on my wife’s plan.
Medicare paid for almost everything. I understand they negotiate with the hospital and the doctors and get the cost down.
When the unions tried to persuade us and other members to switch to a for-profit Medicare Advantage plan, we voted against it. The Advantage plan included prescription coverage, but my doctors were not listed, and I and others would have been required to seek permission for any major procedure. Despite the exclusions (hearing aids, prescription drugs), I think Medicare is wonderful. I wrote a post advocating for Medicare for All after my experience. The health care insurance I received should not be limited to seniors. If a child or young adult needs major surgery, it should be covered as mine was.
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By dianeravitch on August 8, 2022 at 6:19 pm
Your point is well made, Diane. And, what a scary experience for you! Medicare D and Medicare Advantage Plans do cover prescription drugs to some extent. Dental coverage and vision coverage? Nope.
And yes, we need a better Medicare extended to all Americans.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 8, 2022 at 10:17 pm
We are the only advanced democracy that has basically said FU to its elders. That’s because the only elders who matter here are the rich ones.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 8, 2022 at 4:59 pm
It’s called “Wedontcare”
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 8, 2022 at 5:05 pm
Wedontcare
Obamacare was good
But Wedontcare is great
The dental care is wood
And health care seals your fate
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 8, 2022 at 5:20 pm
It’s a win-win because it kills off poor people before they collect a lot of Social Security.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 8, 2022 at 5:40 pm
The copay robs you blind
Deductable will break you
And never you will find
A better plan to rake you*
*Over the coals
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 8, 2022 at 5:41 pm
Harrowing, in the original sense of the term
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By Bob Shepherd on August 8, 2022 at 5:41 pm
You have to be careful with Medicare Advantage plans. They have a higher rate of claims denials, and limited provider networks.
Even though you can switch coverage during the open enrollment period, one caveat to keep in mind is that Medigap (supplemental) policies can exclude coverage of pre-existing conditions for up to six months. Supplemental coverage providers can also deny you coverage.
Medicare $camVantage works well when one is relatively young and healthy. It can cost a person thousands in annual co-pays and deductibles if s/he has an expensive illness.
Again, Medicare For All is the only humane, cost-effective option left for this country. We need to humble ourselves as Americans and acknowledge that other countries might have better solutions than we do when it coms to health care policy.
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By Eleanor on August 9, 2022 at 11:40 am
Our per capita healhcare cost is TWICE the average of the 36 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (basically, wealthy democracies). And our outcomes are worse. And we are the only country in the OECD that doesn’t have national health. It’s obscene. There are all these existence proofs of better, far more humane systems.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 9, 2022 at 12:56 pm
It will never happen.
Our country is being parasitized from within.
This will continue until their is nothing left but an empty shell.
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 8, 2022 at 5:01 pm
The parasitization metaphor is precise, accurate.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 8, 2022 at 5:06 pm
Yup. What we have now is predatory capitalism that attacks the weak and vulnerable.
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By retired teacher on August 8, 2022 at 5:35 pm
Medicare does not even cover a complete annual physical. It covers something called a “wellness visit,” which includes no testing.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 8, 2022 at 5:08 pm
This is the MOST BASIC of all medical advice. Get a complete annual physical. But this most basic medical care is out of reach for millions of seniors. They pay into Medicare all their working lives and end up with a program that costs them $170 a month and provides laughably inadequate services (if, that is, you have a really sick sense of humor).
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By Bob Shepherd on August 8, 2022 at 5:14 pm
If you test, you discover what is wrong.
Better (cheaper) not to know.
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 8, 2022 at 5:52 pm
And what you don’t know won’t hurt you., Right?
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 8, 2022 at 5:53 pm
The monthly $172 Part B premium is just part of the bill. Seniors are advised to also buy a Part B supplement, which adds hundreds of dollars a month in premium costs. Seniors are looking at paying $300 – $500 a month in premium costs alone for the supplement and Part B premiums.
Seniors whose primary income source is Social Security often cannot afford both premiums, and end up getting herded into predatory and inadequate Medicare $camVantage plans.
Time for Medicare For All, and the American Prospect offers a way to get it through the Senate:
https://prospect.org/health/filibuster-means-we-get-medicare-for-all-or-nothing/
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By Eleanor on August 9, 2022 at 10:25 am
It is definitely time for Medicare for all, but with real coverage. I have a Humana Medicare Advantage Plan. It covers Tier 1 and 2 drugs up to a yearly maximum (at which point one enters the donut hole) and limits the total cost of some hospital care. It’s better than A and B plus D (prescriptions). And yeah, a lot of seniors can’t afford Medicare supplement plans.
What an idiot I was. All my life I paid into Medicare and thought that when I retire, i would have coverage. Some coverage.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 9, 2022 at 10:54 am
Not only won’t there ever be Medicare for All, eventually. there won’t even be Medicare for Any.
We got ours. We’re outta here”
When all is said and done
When rich have had their fun
They’ll close the shop for good
And exit from the hood
To islands in the sea
Where bothered they won’t be
By people that they bilked
And country that they milked
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 9, 2022 at 11:34 am
And eye care also!
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By Duane E Swacker on August 8, 2022 at 7:11 pm
Eyedontcare
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 8, 2022 at 7:30 pm
The “leadership” of both corporate-sponsored political parties are victims of corporate capture by the pharmaceutical industry; therefore, Medicare for All isn’t “on the table” during discussions regarding health care system reforms. A huge majority of registered members of the Republican/Democratic parties support Medicare for All. Quibbling over the price of insulin is an example of a difference between the two parties that’s allowed.
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By James Eales on August 8, 2022 at 3:23 pm
They aren’t “victims”. They are co-conspirators.
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By Duane E Swacker on August 8, 2022 at 7:13 pm
They are WILLING co-conspirators.
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By Duane E Swacker on August 8, 2022 at 7:14 pm
From all I can tell, insulin is more expensive here in the US because drug companies cannot make a profit on the older forms of insulin. This led them to stop its production. The study I read stated that it was not accusing the drug companies of any conspiracy, but that it was obvious that producing insulin from animals, a technique used for decades, might make the drugs more inexpensive as a whole as it does in other countries.
For anyone who thinks that privatization of education is a good idea, this phenomenon is instructive. I will not be profitable to teach the poor, so they will not be served in a private system envisioned by so many.
Where the public as a whole needs benefits, private entities fail to serve.
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By Roy Turrentine on August 8, 2022 at 3:57 pm
Insulin costs about $10 a vial to make, that’s what it costs the — the pharmaceutical company,” Biden said, “But drug companies charge families…up to 30 times that amount.” — President Given, in his State of the Union Address
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/verify/insulin-costs-about-10-to-make-but-retails-for-nearly-300-pharmaceutical-companies-eli-lilly-novo-nordisk-sanofi-pbms-insuli/65-73a3cafd-3340-45cd-8324-a5e3e1c78fa5
While it explain why US companies can’t sell insulin for the prices listed above , it doesn’t explain why they would have to be charging $98 or even more for something that costs between $10 to $25 to produce (according to that piece I linked to).
Seriously, how much profit co they have to be making?
Regardless of whether they are paying $3 , $10 or even $25 a vial , if they are selling it for from $98 to $300, they are making a killing any way you look at it.
And if ALL of them are setting the prices that high, there is clearly some sort of conspiracy going on, regardless of what anyone claims to the contrary.
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 8, 2022 at 4:56 pm
A lot of it has to do with the special injectors. Many of the drugs have been on the market with other names (and lower costs) but had never been test trialed for diabetic use. Big Pharma buys up the little guy, takes the drug off market and then conducts a small trial for the FDA approval. They give it a different name, maybe change the shape/color of the tablet, or put liquids into spiffy new injectors and then jack up the price and air it on TV. Brand new drug! e.g. Cholchicine/Colcrys and Epinephrine/EpiPen (the injector is what made the cost soar)
Another sleezy thing they do is use the same drug for 2 different purposes and charge different prices….Ozempic (for diabetes) and Wegovy (for weight loss). Big Pharma makes sure that Wegovy is much more expensive to purchase.
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By LisaM on August 8, 2022 at 9:29 pm
It will not be profitable to teach the poor, so they will not be served in a private system envisioned by so many.
Thus the enormous disconnect between the funds provided by state voucher programs and the cost of decent private schools.
But this is the point. Repugnicans and DINOs basically have an FU attitude toward the poor and their children.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 8, 2022 at 5:10 pm
The insulin price comparisons by country speak volumes ! REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER !
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By Fred Wolfe on August 8, 2022 at 6:39 pm
It’s never advisable to teach the poor, because they are the ones most likely to throw you out of your current position of power.
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 9, 2022 at 11:10 am
Sen. Grassley said he voted for the cap on insulin prices. He’s on video voting no.
Republicans lie as easily as they breathe.
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By Linda on August 8, 2022 at 8:32 pm
In other news: nailing Trump on violation of the Presidential Records Act will lead to zero jail time for him but will keep Trump, who is almost certain to lose again if he were to be the candidate in 2024, from running again. So, if you are an other-than-completely-brain-dead Republican, you have to be pleased about today’s event. AND, this clears the way for Ron DeSantis.
Meanwhile, where is the investigation into his many illegal conspiracies to steal the 2020 election? Don’t hold your breath for that.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 8, 2022 at 10:59 pm
There are two interesting aspects of this:
FBI is actually part of the DOJ so it is highly unlikely that Garland was not at least aware that this would happen.
Second, both Republicans and Garland himself have an interest in avoiding (if at all possible) the prosecution of Trump for the far more serious crimes related to the insurrection.
If you can convict Trump on the violation of Presidential records and/or mishandling of classified documents charges, everyone will be happy, right?
What’s not to like about that outcome?
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 9, 2022 at 12:25 pm
Of Maths and Paths
Sometimes maths
That seem diverged
Lead to paths
That do converge
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 9, 2022 at 12:31 pm
It’s a way to do nothing while avoiding the charge of having done nothing.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 9, 2022 at 12:53 pm
I don’t think the FBI raid was “doing nothing.” It was unprecedented in U.S. history. The GOP is hysterical. Trump May announce his 2024 candidacy sooner and the party will unify behind this dangerous man.
I hope Garland produces the reasons for the raid sooner rather than later.
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By dianeravitch on August 9, 2022 at 9:32 pm
No, it’s not doing nothing. I admire your optimism about this, Diane. I am a bit more jaded. I think that this documents business clears the way for DeSantis and takes heat of the DOJ to “do something about Trump.” But I hope you are wrong. It would be something if the raid turned up evidence of trump’s turning classified material over to his handlers in Russia.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 10, 2022 at 1:39 am
What’s not to like is that Trump gets no jail time. ALL this does is clear the way for DeSantis. There are Democrats and there are DINOs.
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By Bob Shepherd on August 9, 2022 at 1:10 pm
Escape from Alcatraz
(Between the Rock and a Hard Place)
They saw an out
And seized
Without a doubt
They squeezed
Between the rock
And knees
And perp will walk
With ease
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 9, 2022 at 4:09 pm
You could, if you chose, Diane, simplify the title of the post and strike “Price Cap on Insulin for Millions of.” Here it is: Republicans Kill People.
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By leftcoastteacher on August 9, 2022 at 1:21 am
Right to the point ,LCT. Sadly it’s true, when we add the number of women will die from the SCOTUS overturning of Roe V Wade, the lack of regulating the price of insulin and other expensive life saving drugs and the failure of most red states to expand Medicaid. We can forget the elephant logo. It should be a coffin.
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By retired teacher on August 9, 2022 at 7:52 am
Republicans kill people would make a nice tag line for the upcoming election campaign.
If only
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By Bob Shepherd on August 9, 2022 at 8:30 am
Of Maths and Paths
Sometimes maths
That seem diverged
Lead to paths
That do converge
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By SomeDAM Poet on August 9, 2022 at 12:30 pm