On Thursday, the House passed a bill to cap for most Americans the price of insulin, a lifesaving product whose cost has jumped almost 500% in recent years. Some people now pay more than $1,000 a month for insulin to treat diabetes, even with insurance.
Our congressman, Matt Gaetz, voted against the bill. In 2020, Escambia County has 10,935 people hospitalized due to diabetes – 130 died and 266 had to have a foot or leg amputated.
Gaetz said those suffering from diabetes need to exercise, eat better and quit playing the victim.
“While Democrat posturing of H.R. 6833 victimizes insulin payees as people with an uncontrollable disease that are being taken advantage of and need Big Brother to throw them a raft, lifestyle changes en masse would expeditiously lower demand and the subsequent prices of insulin,” wrote Gaetz in his weekly newsletter. “90-95% of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, which “can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, eating healthy food, and being active.”
He added, “Since 2000, the number of diabetes cases in the U.S. has nearly doubled. The demand for insulin has increased and the requisite price increase has followed suit. In other words, the price of insulin increases as waistlines increase.”