Drug-price reform can’t be limited to patients
Westbury, L.I.: As a patient who has lived with type 1 diabetes for more than 50 years, I disagree with Howard Dean’s assertion (“Why stop with insulin?”, op-ed, June 2) that lawmakers should focus only on lowering out-of-pocket costs without addressing list prices. Lowering costs for patients is personal for me. I take Humalog insulin to manage my disease, and just one bottle costs in excess of $300. I know too many people living with diabetes and other conditions who have been forced to ration their prescriptions. It’s unfair that patients like me have to shell out thousands of dollars just to stay alive. We deserve better. But lowering out-of-pocket costs alone is not the solution. List prices have a profound effect on what patients and taxpayers pay for prescription drugs. Because I am retired and a Medicare beneficiary, the amount I pay for my insulin is based on the price set by Big Pharma. Capping out-of-pocket costs without lowering prices will simply shift costs, and everyone will end up paying more through higher premiums and higher taxes.
That’s why the Senate must pass the drug pricing reforms already passed by the House of Representatives last fall. These reforms would stop price-gouging, allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices for some of the most expensive drugs, including insulin, and institute a cap on out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries and people using insulin. Sen. Chuck Schumer has the opportunity to lead his colleagues to deliver on their promises to lower drug prices for Americans. The votes are there. New Yorkers are calling for it. We need the Senate to act now.