On this week’s Radically Pragmatic Podcast, Representative Dan Kildee (MI-05) sits down with PPI’s Director of Health Care Arielle Kane to discuss his bill, the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which passed the House of Representatives last month and would lower the cost of insulin prescriptions for Americans with diabetes.
“In Michigan, one-in-10 people have some form of diabetes. It can be $1,000 a month for somebody to have life-saving insulin available to them…This year, as my virtual guest at the State of the Union, I had a young woman, Jill Verdier — the way she described it is that insulin is like air to people with diabetes. They literally need it to survive. To me, with huge profits in the pharmaceutical industry, with a drug that’s 100 years old, there’s no excuse for the fact that it’s not affordable. So we decided to do something about that,” said Rep. Kildee on the podcast.
Currently, Americans with diabetes can be on the hook for hundreds of dollars a month to buy their medically necessary insulin. That’s why this vital legislation, introduced and spearheaded by Rep. Kildee, would cap monthly $35 out-of-pocket costs for insulin. According to the KFF, at least 1 in 5 people with large employer coverage who take insulin would save money if the Affordable Insulin Now Act became law.
In the episode, the Congressman talks about his personal experience with the skyrocketing costs of the lifesaving drug after learning his daughter was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic. The Congressman also talks about the importance of lowering the price.
Representative Kildee represents Michigan’s 5th Congressional District. He serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, the House Budget Committee, the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, and is the Chief Deputy Whip of the Democratic Caucus.
Listen here and subscribe:
The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org.
Follow the Progressive Policy Institute.
###
Media Contact: Aaron White; awhite@ppionline.org
