Joe Morelle: “I thank the distinguished and, by his own admission, highly caffeinated gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter), my…”

“I thank the distinguished and, by his own admission, highly caffeinated gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter), my Rules Committee colleague and great friend, for yielding me time. I rise today in support of the rule and the underlying legislation. In particular, I would like to say a few words about the Affordable Insulin Now Act. Over the past two decades, the costs of prescription diabetes drugs like insulin have artificially skyrocketed by more than tenfold. A few years ago, I was proud to commission a report by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to determine the extent of this price gouging and how it is affecting communities across the country, including my own in Rochester, New York, and the impact it is having on patients, especially older adults, and our uninsured population. The results of that review were staggering. In communities across the country, out-of-pocket costs have risen by 400 percent for the Medicare program and beneficiaries over the last decade. The average price for a standard unit of insulin in the United States was more than 10 times the average price in a sampling of 32 other countries. These excessively inflated prices have real consequences on how patients manage this chronic disease. I have talked with many patients and families in my own district that have had to ration their dose or stop taking this lifesaving and life-sustaining medication altogether.…”