Lacy McGee Was Invited by Senator Warnock Who Has Led the Fight for Lower Insulin Costs for All
Lacy McGee is an insulin user from Atlanta who attended President Biden’s State of the Union address as the guest of Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock. She has previously been uninsured and, like so many Americans, struggled to afford her insulin prescription. Even when she was privately insured, Lacy continued to have a hard time affording this life-saving prescription. She has been forced to ration her insulin, use expired or friends’ leftover insulin, and even rely on the black market to obtain this lifesaving medication. Lacy’s story demonstrates the importance of extending the Inflation Reduction Act’s $35 insulin cap to everyone.
Protect Our Care is highlighting the importance of lower insulin costs over the next two weeks. The Inflation Reduction Act capped monthly insulin copays for seniors on Medicare — a game changer for more than three million people, but an estimated 21 million Americans who use insulin are blocked from these savings as a result of Republicans in Congress. Reverend Warnock has been a leader on lower insulin costs, sponsoring the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would cap out-of-pocket insulin costs, not just for seniors on Medicare, but for millions of diabetics with private insurance. He is a committed health care champion who is fighting for a future where quality, affordable health care is a reality for Georgians and all Americans.
Last year, Republicans in Congress blocked a provision that would have extended the cap to people with private insurance. In a country where 80 percent of diabetics have had to go into debt in order to pay for insulin, this type of action by Republicans puts Big Pharma’s profits over real people. Now, President Biden and Democrats in Congress are fighting to extend these savings to everyone.
When those who rely on insulin stop taking doses as prescribed because they cannot afford it, they suffer severe effects, such as numbness in their feet and nerve damage in the eyes. Taking insulin as prescribed reduces the likelihood of costly complications such as vision loss, heart disease, and kidney disease. Americans are dying as a result of high insulin costs. Read Protect Our Care’s fact sheet here.