Insulin cap for Medicare patients signals hope for others

WASHINGTON (AP) — Years before he came to the Senate, Raphael Warnock spent time bedside with Georgia residents suffering from the long-term effects of diabetes, a condition made worse by limited access to life-saving drugs like insulin.

“I’ve seen the human face of this up close as a pastor. I’ve been there and witnessed what happens when diabetes goes on untreated,” Warnock said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I’ve been there with families when they received the news that a loved one will have to receive an amputation.”

That work as a pastor helped the freshman senator push Congress to take its first step in limiting the high cost of insulin for millions of Americans.

The passage of the expansive climate change and health care bill this month delivered key Democratic priorities to voters months before the midterm elections, including provisions to lower health care costs.

As a result, by 2026, Medicare will gain the power to start negotiating costs for pharmaceuticals and its beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket prescription costs will be limited to $2,000 starting in 2025.

But the most immediate relief will take effect in January when the cost of insulin for patients on Medicare will be capped at $35 a month.

The provision, a longstanding priority for Democrats, will bring relief to an estimated nearly 2 million people across the country who currently pay an average of $572 annually out-of-pocket for insulin, according to a recent analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

In Warnock's state, the annual average is higher, coming in at $591 for more than 50,000 Georgia residents whose lives are dependent on the drug.

Around 7 million Americans require insulin daily and 14% of them are spending nearly half of their income after food and housing costs on the...