President Biden called on lawmakers to expand the out-of-pocket insulin cost cap championed by Senator Reverend Warnock at tonight’s State of the Union

President Biden on expanding the out-of-pocket insulin cost cap: “We capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors on Medicare … There are millions of other Americans who are not on Medicare … Let’s finish the job this time.”

Senator Reverend Warnock: “No one should feel like they have to put their life at risk because they can’t afford their insulin. We can do better than this”

Senator Reverend Warnock was joined at the State of the Union by Atlanta resident and insulin user Lacy Mason

Lacy could not afford her insulin while in graduate school, even though she had private health insurance. She often resorted to extreme measures to buy insulin

View photos from Lacy’s visit to the Capitol as Senator Warnock’s State of the Union guest HERE.

WATCH: Senator Reverend Warnock and State of the Union Guest Lacy Mason on the Need to Expand the Insulin Out-of-Pocket Cost Cap

Washington D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) highlighted the moral urgency of lowering insulin costs ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union address. Senator Warnock was joined at the address by his guest Lacy Mason, a resident of Atlanta, GA who uses insulin. 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. During his address, President Biden called for a universal out-of-pocket insulin cost cap following Senator Warnock’s leadership on this issue.

[View photos from Lacy’s visit to the Capitol as Senator Warnock’s guest HERE.]

“No one should feel like they have to put their life at risk because they can’t afford their insulin. We can do better than this,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “I’m so thankful to Lacy for joining me at tonight’s State of the Union address. Her story is like so many others I hear from Georgians highlighting the importance of lowering insulin costs so that everyone who needs it can afford 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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