Raphael G. Warnock
02/08/2023 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/08/2023 19:41
ICYMI: Senator Reverend Warnock Brings Out-of-Pocket Insulin Costs to the Front Burner with State of the Union Guest
At yesterday's State of the Union address, Senator Reverend Warnock joined Atlanta resident and insulin user Lacy Mason (McGee). Lacy could not afford her insulin while in graduate school, often resorting to extreme measures to buy insulin
President Biden called on lawmakers to expand the out-of-pocket insulin cost cap championed by Senator Reverend Warnock at yesterday's State of the Union address
Senator Reverend Warnock to WSB: "If we work for the people rather than the interests of private insurance companies and big pharmaceutical companies, then we ought to be able to get this done."
View photos and video from Lacy's visit to the Capitol as Senator Warnock's State of the Union guest HERE.
Washington D.C. - ICYMI, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) attended yesterday's State of the Union address with Atlanta resident and insulin user, Lacy Mason (McGee). Senator Warnock and Lacy spoke with WSB-TV to highlight the moral urgency of lowering out-of-pocket insulin costs. Lacy could not afford her insulin while in graduate school, even though she had private health insurance. She resorted to buying black market insulin, using Facebook pages to find insulin sellers and sometimes meeting strangers in parking lots to buy insulin. Lacy sometimes accepted leftover insulin from friends or expired insulin. She also rationed insulin when she needed to because she could not afford the high costs.
During his address last night, President Biden called for a universal out-of-pocket insulin cost cap following Senator Warnock's leadership on this issue. Read a partial transcript of Senator Warnock's interview below:
- WSB-TV Anchor: "Another thing President Joe Biden talked about was capping the price of prescription drugs, including insulin. This morning, Channel Two's Wendy Corona shows us how it's a huge issue for many Georgians, including one Atlanta woman who's calling for change."
- Senator Warnock: "Her story is harrowing."
- Wendy Corona: "Senator Raphael Warnock's guest to the State of the Union address was someone he called "the human face" of his plan to cap insulin."
- Senator Warnock: "She literally was rationing her insulin, meeting people in dim parking lots to get a drug that she absolutely, absolutely needs to stay alive."
- Wendy Corona: "Lacy McGee, a southwest Atlanta resident, was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes at the age of seventeen."
- Lacy: "From the time I was seventeen, I was told to prepare for aging out of Medicaid and going three years without having any sort of doctor's appointments or being able to afford my insulin. Everything seemed to be another roadblock."
- Wendy Corona: "She had no insurance for years and rationed her insulin, something that can make you sick, even kill you."
- Lacy: "Individuals that need insulin cannot live without it."
- Wendy Corona: President Joe Biden talked about a plan, promoted by Senator Warnock, to cap insulin at $35 a month."
- President Biden: "But Big Pharma has been unfairly charging people hundreds of dollars, four to five hundred dollars a month, making record profits. Not anymore. Not anymore."
- Wendy Corona: "Warnock, who pushed for an insulin cap for [Medicare], says there is a bipartisan path for lawmakers to make this a law."
- Senator Warnock: "If we work for the people rather than the interests of private insurance companies and big pharmaceutical companies, then we ought to be able to get this done."
- Wendy Corona: "As for McGee, she says this is about even more than saving lives; it would lift a huge weight off her shoulders."
- Lacy: "Having legislation passed that would cap the price of medication that saves lives would be peace of mind, and it would save so many people in this country."
- WSB-TV Anchor: "So many people. That was our Wendy Corona reporting. Senator Warnock told us that Republican Senator Josh Hawley proposed a similar bill to his that would also cap the price of insulin. He says that's a sign both parties can get something done together."
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