WISCONSIN – Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a new report highlighting the major savings coming to Wisconsinites on Medicare thanks to the Inflation Reduction Act’s $35 cap on a month’s supply of insulin. The report finds that the insulin cap in the Inflation Reduction Act would have saved Wisconsinites enrolled in Medicare an average of $628 in annual out-of-pocket costs in 2020.
In response, Protect Our Care Wisconsin State Director Joe Zepecki issued the following statement:
“This report confirms that capping insulin costs is the right thing to do. Thanks to the leadership of President Biden and Democrats in Congress, Medicare recipients in Wisconsin and across the country no longer have to pay more than $35 on insulin per month, delivering widespread, immediate relief to Wisconsinites. Too many seniors on fixed incomes are up at night worried about paying the bills, but this new law will finally give some breathing room to seniors who have worked hard their whole lives.”
The new report follows the release of new Navigator polling showing overwhelming bipartisan support for the Inflation Reduction Act’s cap on the price of insulin for seniors. Across political parties, race, and age groups, the support for lowering insulin costs is astoundingly clear.
As the final negotiations were being made on the Inflation Reduction Act, Senate Republicans worked together to make sure that the $35 insulin cap would not apply to every American with diabetes. In a country where 80 percent of diabetics have had to go into debt in order to pay for insulin, this type of action by Republicans is unacceptable – and it confirms that the interests of Big Pharma come before their own constituents’ needs. Lawmakers must build on the momentum behind this provision and extend the cap so everyone is guaranteed life-saving insulin at an affordable cost.
