In a speech announcing her 2020 candidacy for president, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), said she would take the necessary action to bring down the high cost of prescription drugs, including insulin.<\/p>\n
Senator Klobuchar told the story of\u00a0Minnesotan Alec Raeshawn Smith, who lived with diabetes and died tragically because he couldn\u2019t afford the insulin he needed to stay alive. Smith\u2019s mother, Nicole Smith-Holt, who has been\u00a0<\/span>sharing her son\u2019s story with the media<\/a>, was present at the speech. Senator Klobuchar said, \u201cLast week my guest to the State of the Union, who is here again with me today, was Nicole Smith-Holt.\u00a0Nicole\u2019s son Alec, a 26-year-old restaurant manager from the southern suburbs, aged off his parents\u2019 health insurance.\u00a0Three days short of his payday, Alec, a diabetic, wasn\u2019t able to afford his insulin. He tried rationing it to save money. Tragically it didn\u2019t work. He died. This disgrace should never have happened in the United States of America. Not with a simple drug that\u2019s been around for nearly a century.\u00a0The obstacle to change? The big pharma companies think they own Washington. Well they don\u2019t own me. And they don\u2019t own Nicole.\u201d [See\u00a0<\/span>Twin Cities Pioneer Press<\/a> for the full text of the speech.]\n Insulin prices have been increasingly rising out of control and proportion<\/a>; in 20 years the costs have climbed\u00a01123%<\/a>, while U.S. inflation stayed around 56%. People with insulin dependent diabetes in most income brackets are deeply struggling to pay for this life-sustaining medication, which can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars a month.<\/p>\n Why is insulin so expensive in America?<\/a> The short answer is\u2026\u00a0we don\u2019t know<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The pharmaceutical manufacturers have pointed their fingers at Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBMs) and at health insurance companies while claiming that the price the manufacturers charge has little to do with what patients pay at the pharmacy window. Another factor is that many insurance plans and PBMs receive rebates that are based on the reimbursement price and the price along the distribution route. However,\u00a0the price that the manufacturers charge is the starting point.<\/a><\/p>\n