By Alice Miranda Ollstein and Megan Wilson, Politico – March 31, 2022
The House voted Thursday in favor of a bill to cap out-of-pocket costs on insulin at $35 a month, a policy Democrats hope will give them a concrete win to campaign on when they face voters in November as the rest of their health care agenda remains stalled.
“At the end of the day, I hope that we can still bring forward a reconciliation bill with additional reforms this year. I know we need to do Medicare drug price negotiation,” Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), the lead sponsor of the insulin bill, told POLITICO. “But we can’t wait any longer to act on insulin.”
Though the legislation easily passed the House on Thursday, it will be a much heavier lift in the Senate, where it needs support from at least 10 Republicans and all 50 Democrats. Though Warnock told POLITICO on Wednesday that he’s hearing “bipartisan interest in capping the cost of insulin,” no Republicans other than Collins have signed onto the effort, and multiple lobbyists said they don’t think it will garner enough Republican support to reach the 60-vote threshold in the upper chamber.
Still, Democrats believe those who oppose it will pay a political price in November.
“If my Republican colleagues don’t support it, I hope my voters back home see right through that,” Craig said. “You can make the case for voting against a big reconciliation bill, that you opposed this or that individual provision, but when it’s a standalone bill like this, there’s nowhere to hide.”