Morgantown, WV – Today, after months of negotiation, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) indicated that he now opposes the Build Back Better Act. If Senator Manchin fails to support the Build Back Better Act, he is fighting against lower drug prices, lower health care costs, and improved care for millions of seniors and working families. In response, Mindy Salango, type 1 diabetic from Morgantown, West Virginia, issued the following statement:
“Type One diabetics like me are left with one decision at the pharmacy counter: pay the high price of insulin or die. Unchecked greed has ruled the pharmaceutical industry for far too long, but Build Back Better would lower drug prices and improve care for millions of seniors and working families. Without Build Back Better, diabetics could still be forced to pay hundreds of dollars on insulin instead of just $35 per month. In the greatest country in the world, we are not meant to beg and depend on the kindness of strangers in order to obtain insulin. This is ‘survival of the richest’ and it must stop.
“I’m not giving up the fight – for myself and on behalf of those who are rationing their insulin, those who are not caring for their chronic disease as they should, those who are suffering irreparable harm to their bodies, those who are dying, and those who have died. Senator Manchin, you promised West Virginians lower drug prices, and I took you at your word. Please fight for us.”