Thrilled to see Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all talk about our groundbreaking work on affordable insulin in the Tim Walz intro video last night! Re-upping this thread on Gov. Walz's compassionate leadership that helped us win a "David vs. Goliath" battle against Big Pharma that is saving lives.

“All Americans” damn well better include the uninsured. Democrats’ proposed legislation to date has purposefully excluded those who pay the most for insulin.

2) Thankfully, prices have finally come down. Why? The number 1 reason is sustained advocacy and a fight for action by patients and parents like Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all who lost her son at age 26 to high insulin prices, and leaders like Bernie Sanders independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

To learn more about the intense advocacy that led to change, the strong opposition even to measures like providing emergency access to affordable insulin, watch Pay Or Die Film on Paramount+

Minnesota has been at the forefront of the campaign for affordable insulin. In large part that's due the advocacy of Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all whose son Alec died in 2017 when he couldn't afford his insulin. npr.org/sections/healt…

Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all Over 8 million Americans use insulin. About 2 million of them, like Alec, have type 1 diabetes and depend on daily injections of manufactured insulin to live. Between 1996 and 2018, the price of a single vial of insulin rose by about 1,200% npr.org/sections/healt…

Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all The advocacy of Nicole and many others in the #insulin4all movement helped turn the high price of insulin into a presidential talking point kffhealthnews.org/news/article/a…

Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all Copayment caps have been a popular policy response to this problem. 25 states and D.C. have capped insulin copayments at various amounts. And copayments have also been the focus at the federal level as well... diabetes.org/tools-resource…

Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all I see a lot of fighting about who implement the $35 copayment caps for Medicare drug plans. The answer is that both Trump and Biden did something. Here's how they differ:

Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all In 2020, the Trump admin announced a voluntary program for Medicare drug plans to cap copays for some insulin at $35. Under Biden in 2022, the IRA required all Medicare drug plans to cap insulin copays at $35. kff.org/policy-watch/t…

Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all Harris has proposed extending that copayment cap to Americans with commercial health insurance.

Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all But copayment caps only work for people who have insurance. That's what makes the law Walz signed in Minnesota different. It created an Insulin Safety Net that is open to people without insurance. mninsulin.org

Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all The law was bipartisan out of necessity as Republicans controlled the state senate at the time and the Minnesota DFL controlled the house and governorship. But the law is also under attack from the pharmaceutical industry.

Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all They say because Minnesota’s program requires insulin manufacturers to provide the insulin, it violates the “takings clause” of the U.S. Constitution. That suit is ongoing, yet the state program is up and running and by the end of 2023 it had been used over 1,500 times.

Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all Insulin makers have taken some action on insulin costs. They voluntarily dropped list prices last year and offer patient assistance programs. And the voluntary copay cap Trump announced in 2020 was first proposed by the CEO of insulin maker Eli Lilly. kffhealthnews.org/news/article/e…

Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all They say insulin costs have been driven up by insurance companies and PBMs — the middlemen between insurance plans and drug manufacturers — who negotiate a discount with manufacturers then pocket it. The FTC makes a similar allegation in a recent lawsuit ftc.gov/news-events/ne…

Nicole Smith-Holt #insulin4all Regardless, copay caps remain popular. 77% of voters support the proposal to expand the $35 cap on out-of-pocket costs for insulin beyond those with Medicare. kff.org/medicare/poll-…

Too many lives have been lost due to the pharmaceutical industry's greed. Micah was one of them. If this outrages you, too, please join our movement: t1international.com/get-involved/

T1International's 2024 Out of Pocket Expenses Survey is available in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, & Swahili. The survey is less than 20 questions long & should only take about 20 min to complete. Survey closes December 31, 2024! Take the survey now: t1international.com/access-survey2…

When did y’all get more scared of calling out REPRESENTATIVES for not REPRESENTING the peoples’ interests by lowering insulin prices than you are of dying a preventable death because some greedy asshat in Indy who wants a twelfth yacht gouged insulin prices to the moon?