This week, Senator Reverend Warnock and CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure spoke with Georgia diabetes patients, advocates, and health care professionals about the need for federal action to make insulin affordable for all Americans 

The visit followed the Senator’s introduction of the bipartisan Affordable Insulin Now Act of 2023, which will cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 a month for insured and uninsured insulin users

The event highlighted the Senator’s commitment to making health care more affordable following his success in securing an insulin cost-cap for Medicare recipients in the Inflation Reduction Act

Senator Warnock to Georgia Recorder: “We will continue to work hard in the Senate until we get this over the finish line”

ICYMI: 11Alive: Sen. Warnock pushes for insulin cap cost requirement

Atlanta, GA  — On Monday, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) hosted Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure for a tour of Southside Medical Center and a roundtable discussion with local health care advocates, professionals and diabetes patients to discuss the real-world impacts of the overwhelming cost of insulin, as well as why federal action is needed to make insulin more affordable for millions of patients in Georgia and across the country. During the visit, the Senator also highlighted his newly-bipartisan Affordable Insulin Now Act , which would cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 a month for insured and uninsured insulin users.

“I believe health care is a human right, which is why it was a priority for me to meet with Georgians and health care professionals facing the overwhelming cost of insulin and its devastating impact on individuals with diabetes,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “In the last Congress, we made great gains in lowering health care costs for Georgians through the Inflation Reduction Act by capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month for Medicare recipients. But our work is not done. For too many families this remains a matter of life or death. I will continue fighting to cap the cost of insulin for all who need it whether they have insurance or not, because in one of the richest nations on Earth, we should not force folks to choose between purchasing this life-saving medication and putting food on the table.”

In addition to Administrator Brooks-LaSure, Senator Warnock was joined at a roundtable discussion by Southside Medical Center CEO Dr. David Williams, Executive Director of the Diabetes Association of Atlanta Karla Hooper, President and CEO of the Ruby A. Neeson Diabetes Awareness Foundation Ms. Mutima Jackson-Anderson, Georgia Primary Care Clinical Director Dr. Theresa Jacobs, Executive Assistant for Southside Medical Center and Georgia insulin user Ms. D’Juana Dudley, and Atlanta-area insulin user Lacy McGee 

At February’s State of the Union address and again at this week’s affordable insulin roundtable, Senator Warnock was joined by Lacy McGee, who has previously told the Senator how she could not afford her insulin while in graduate school, often resorting to extreme measures to buy insulin. Senator Warnock heard from Lacy and other Georgians about how the skyrocketing cost of insulin has led them to ration their medicine, and even purchase it off the black market, to avoid spending hundreds of dollars a month on this life-saving drug. Senator Warnock’s affordable insulin event at Southside Medical Center comes off the heels of the implementation of his insulin cost cap for Medicare recipients beginning on January 1 of this year, which he secured last year through the Inflation Reduction Act. Participating speakers pointed to these efforts as already having a positive impact on the physical and financial well-being of diabetic seniors in Georgia. 

In March, Senator Warnock and Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the bipartisan Affordable Insulin Now Act , which would cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 a month for insured and uninsured insulin users.

See more coverage of Senator Reverend Warnock’s affordable insulin event below:

Georgia Recorder: Warnock urges more insulin price relief while in Georgia during Senate recess

Monday, May 22, 2023

• U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s push to cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 per month yielded pocketbook protection for seniors in last year’s Inflation Reduction Act.
  
  
• The Georgia Democrat has since revived his original proposal to cap insulin costs for everyone, including those who are uninsured. And this time, he is co-sponsoring the bill with Louisiana U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, who is a Republican.
  
  
• “We will continue to work hard in the Senate until we get this over the finish line,” Warnock said Monday during a panel discussion at Southside Medical Center in Atlanta. “And I do this because I believe that health care is a human right. And it is certainly something the wealthiest nation on the planet can and ought to provide for all of its citizens.”
  
  
• Warnock has long championed the issue, arguing that a century old drug should not be expensive for anybody today. Some Americans have struggled to afford insulin in recent years as the prices skyrocketed, leading them to ration supplies or take other desperate measures.
  
  
• “Diabetes is a nasty disease. It affects every aspect of a person’s life and of their body,” said Dr. Theresa Jacobs, clinical director for Georgia Primary Care Association. Jacobs said she has had to prescribe medication based on what her diabetic patients can afford.

The Atlanta Voice: Warnock drops by Southside Medical Center, talks insulin price stability

Monday, May 22, 2023

• Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Ga) visited Southside Medical Center Monday, May 22. The junior senator and senior pastor at historic Ebenezer Baptist Church spoke with Southside Medical Center CEO & president David Williams, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure and healthcare advocates about his work to cut cost of insulin for seniors. 

• Following a tour of the facility, Warnock sat down to address recent action he has taken in Washington to cut the cost of insulin for all Americans, not just seniors.

• “Insulin should not be expensive for anybody,” he said. “We have seen insulin costs skyrocket because pharmaceutical companies have taken us to the cleaners just because they can.”
  
  
• One of the advocates on the panel alongside Warnock, Williams and Brooks-LaSure was D’Juana Dudley, an executive assistant at Southside Medical and more particularly to that days events, an insulin user and diabetic.
  
  
• Dudley was 34 when she was diagnosed with diabetes. She now takes multiple insulins to combat the disease and disclosed that diabetes runs in her family. “My experience with diabetes is from my family history. I have a grandmother and grandfather who both died from diabetes,” she said.

• The reduction in the cost of insulin has helped her stay on track with her doctor’s orders and with the necessary amount of insulin she needs.

WSBTV: Sen. Warnock pushes to further cap out-of-pocket costs for insulin

Monday, May 22, 2023

• There is a push to make insulin more affordable for diabetic patients. Sen. Raphael Warnock sat down with hospital leaders to discuss what can be done.
  
  
• He says the cap of $35 a month for insulin for those Medicare users that he added to the Inflation Reduction Act last year doesn’t go far enough.

• He’s proposed bi-partisan legislation with a Republican colleague to cap the cost for everyone, the insured and uninsured.

• In the last two months, the top three insulin manufacturers have announced plans to do just that, or drastically reduce costs without further political action. The senator says that move was no accident. “They see the handwriting on the wall. I would argue they’re lowering the cost is the direct result of my work,” Warnock said.

• Some of those on the panel said costs for their treatments could be up to $500 a month and they were forced to ration insulin or buy it on the black market.

11 Alive: Sen. Warnock pushes for insulin cap cost requirement

Monday, May 22, 2023

• Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock met with a group of medical leaders in Atlanta Tuesday, as he continues to push a new affordable insulin act that would cap the cost of medicine for all users including the uninsured.
  
  
• The senator toured Southside Medical before sitting down for a roundtable where he discussed the Affordable Insulin Now Act that he introduced just two months ago. The legislation would cap the price of insulin for all patients to $35 for a 30-day supply.

• In the fall, the Inflation Reduction Act was passed, which capped the cost of insulin for Medicare but left millions still paying high prices. “This is not a bi-partisan issue, it’s a human issue. Not only is it the right thing to do – but it’s the smart thing to do,” added Warnock.

WSAV: New bill makes insulin more affordable for Georgians

Monday, May 22, 2023

• A new bill that makes the cost of insulin more affordable will save thousands of dollars for Georgians.

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