Lacy Mason, from Atlanta, GA, was unable to pay for her insulin in graduate school due to the burdensomely high costs, even with health insurance
Lacy is joining Senator Reverend Warnock to bring attention to the necessity of expanding the $35 out-of-pocket insulin cost cap to private insurance
Senator Reverend Warnock championed insulin affordability during his first term in Congress, introducing the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 a month for people on private insurance and Medicare
Thanks to Senator Reverend Warnock’s leadership, the Affordable Insulin Now Act garnered major endorsements, passed the House with bipartisan support, and received bipartisan support in the Senate
The provision to cap the out-of-pocket insulin cost at $35 a month was signed into law last summer as part of the Inflation Reduction Act and is now in effect, helping more than 50,000 Georgians
Senator Reverend Warnock: “I invited Lacy to join me at tonight’s important address because she is one of many Georgians I heard from about the impact of high insulin costs in their lives. Lacy’s story is one of the many that helped push Congress to act last year and take a first step toward lowering costs for this life-saving drug.”
Washington D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) announced Atlanta resident and insulin user Lacy Mason will be his guest to Wednesday’s State of the Union address being delivered to Congress by President Joe Biden. Lacy could not afford her insulin while in graduate school, even though she had private health insurance. She resorted to buying black market insulin, using Facebook pages to find insulin sellers and sometimes meeting strangers in parking lots to buy insulin. Lacy sometimes accepted leftover insulin from friends or used expired insulin. She also rationed insulin when she needed to because she could not afford the high costs.
“I invited Lacy to join me at tonight’s important address because she is one of many Georgians I heard from about the impact of high insulin costs in their lives,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “Lacy’s story is one of the many that helped push Congress to act last year and take a first step toward lowering costs for this life-saving drug. We started with our seniors and Medicare beneficiaries, and now we need to lower out-of-pocket insulin costs for everyone who needs it, including people with stories like Lacy’s who have insurance but are still unable to afford a drug they need to live. Because when you need insulin, you really need insulin.
“As a voice for Georgians in the Senate this remains a top priority for me, and it’s an issue I know the President cares about,”continued Senator Reverend Warnock. “We have to keep this issue on the front burner here in Washington. I’m going to keep fighting to bring down the cost of insulin so that everyone who needs it can get it.”
Last February, Senator Warnock, a long-time champion for affordable, quality health care, introduced the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 for insulin users on private insurance and Medicare plans. The Senator worked to build critical support for the legislation, including garnering co-sponsorships from a majority of Senate Democrats as well as securing the bill’s bipartisan passage through the House of Representatives. Additionally, the Senator secured major endorsements for his legislation from important health care and diabetes advocacy organizations, including the American Diabetes Association. The Senator was able to successfully secure a provision of his legislation—a $35 out-of-pocket cost cap for Medicare recipients—in the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law last August. Additionally, thanks to Senator Warnock’s efforts to bring national attention to this issue, major insurance company UnitedHealthcare announced it would eliminate out-of-pocket costs on insulin for all insured patients, and insulin drug manufacturer Sanofi announced it was capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month for all uninsured U.S. patients.
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