Insulin Costs

Last week, a new bipartisan bill to lower the cost of insulin gained traction in the Senate. The bill aims to cap the out-of-pocket costs of insulin to $35. This would cut costs for all Americans on Obamacare and on most commercial insurance plans. Despite already financing private insurance plans, Americans in 2019 paid, on average, $63 a month for this life-saving medicine.

If passed, this bill would save hundreds of dollars for each of the 40 million Americans struggling with diabetes. The bill also outlines an initial plan to cap insulin rates for Americans living without insurance and would be the first U.S. bill to cap a drug that is not preventative.

While the team pushing the bill consists of both Democratic and Republicans, the proposal is a page taken not-so-subtly out of the socialist book. Yet, its progressive characteristics still fall short of addressing the deeper issue: the greed of pharmaceutical companies. In other words, the bill would act as an attempt at curative care when the dangerous disease of greed requires strong preventative care to finally end its unethical practices. Because despite the immense success and power of the United States, Americans are still burdened with paying marked-up prices for a product rarely placed on the market: their lives.