Rep. Grothman Newsletter- Overpriced Insulin

What's Ahead

1. My Plan to Lower Insulin Costs.

2. Sounding the Alarm to President Biden.

3. Weekly Roundup.

4. My Contact Information.

My Plan to Lower Insulin Costs

During my time in Congress, I have always made a point to return power to American citizens. Unfortunately, when it comes to health care, drug manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies often have too much influence in a particular market, which translates to greater profits for them but paying more out-of-pocket for you.

The insulin market is a prime example. For many people with diabetes, having insulin is as important as breathing. The way the system is set up, however, the deck is stacked in favor of increasingly high list prices.

This week, I introduced the Insulin Cost Reduction Act to help drive the price of insulin down for people who depend on it by making the treatment more affordable and accessible for Medicare Part D participants.

Among Medicare beneficiaries (including people 65 and older and younger adults with long-term disabilities), one-third had diabetes in 2017. The cost that these patients pay are increasingly high if a patient’s Medicare Part D plan does not cover the insulin they need.

The current system is set to have drug manufacturers compete to give the highest rebate to the Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) in exchange for getting on the top tier of insurance companies' drug lists. This creates a perverse incentive to increase insulin list prices. My bill will eliminate this incentive and promote price decreases that we should be seeing with free market competition.

Sounding the Alarm to President Biden

This week, I signed two letters sent to President Biden urging him to address two crises he has failed to fix — the supply chain crisis and the energy crisis.

It is hard to overstate the degree to which the issues with our supply chain trickle down into our everyday life, and the policies of this Administration have exacerbated the problems. The fact that we have seen so many container ships sitting offshore waiting to unload speaks volumes about the crisis and should be an alarm for the Administration to help get people back to work.

Along with 159 of my Republican colleagues, I signed this letter to the President asking him to focus on restoring the efficient movement of goods because supply chain issues of this magnitude should never materialize in the U.S. This crisis is weakening our economy and compromising America's global competitiveness. Most importantly, Americans should not have to pay for bad policies from Washington in the form of higher prices.

Click here to read the full letter.

The energy crisis is also directly impacting Americans as we see the country experiencing a dramatic increase in gas prices, which are at a 7-year high and over a dollar more than a year ago.

Let us remember that on President Biden's first day in the Oval Office he killed the Keystone XL Pipeline. Now, less than a year later, Americans are literally paying for it. The 1,200 mile project was expected to carry 830,000 barrels of oil per day from Alberta directly into the United States. It is also worth mentioning that a pipeline is the safest way to transport oil and gas.

I signed onto this letter with 144 of my colleagues urging President Biden to reverse his disastrous energy policies.

Click here to read the full letter.

Weekly Roundup

I was so glad to meet with these future leaders of our country at the Christian Community Child Center in Oshkosh on Monday morning. Their wonderful staff is teaching them to achieve their goals by dreaming big and working hard!

Inflation is sweeping the nation and harming middle class families. Meanwhile, President Biden wants to spend $trillions more in borrowed money. I took to the House floor to point out that this economic crisis is self-inflicted and we cannot continue down this path of reckless spending.

I visited Muza Sheet Metal in Oshkosh earlier this week. Thank you to the management and employees for giving me a behind-the-scenes look at how you provide contractors nationwide with high-quality sheet metal, ventilation, and composite panels.

On Tuesday, we stayed silent to stand with the unborn children that have had their voices stolen from them.

Earlier this week, I spoke at the 2021 Economic Forecast and Business of the Year Breakfast in Ozaukee County about the risks of running up our national debt and excessive government spending. Thank you so much for having me!

Contact Me

As your Congressman, I’m here to serve you. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to my offices in Fond du Lac and Washington. If you enjoyed this newsletter, be sure to forward it to your family and friends so they can stay informed on what I’m doing in Washington and the 6th District, and let them know that they can subscribe by clicking here.

You can also stay up-to-the-minute by following me on Facebook (Congressman Glenn Grothman), Twitter (@RepGrothman) and Instagram (@RepGlennGrothman).

Sincerely,

Glenn Grothman
Member of Congress