Sunday morning, Sen. Chuck Grassley voted against a bipartisan effort to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month, instead choosing to protect drug industry profits and force Iowans to continue to pay skyrocketing prices for the insulin they need.
After a measure to cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month was included in the Inflation Reduction Act, Senate Republicans introduced a point of order to strip that language from the bill. The motion needed 60 votes in favor of keeping the insulin cap in order to stay in, and seven Republicans joined Democrats in voting to keep the insulin language. However, Sen. Grassley opposed this bipartisan effort and voted no, against reducing costs for the more than 240,000 Iowans living with diabetes.
“Sen. Grassley can talk all he wants about lowering drug prices, but what he actually does in Washington – from writing the bill to ban Medicare from negotiating for lower prices to now voting against capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month – shows that what he actually cares about is protecting the profits of his drug industry donors,” said Franken for Iowa campaign manager Julie Stauch. “Throughout his 47 years in Washington, Sen. Grassley has consistently said one thing and done another, all while claiming he’s “working” for Iowans. Now the more than 240,000 Iowans with diabetes who depend on lifesaving insulin will pay the price through higher costs.” Grassley has received nearly $1.4 million in contributions from the prescription drug industry, and has put their profits first throughout his career, including when he wrote the bill to ban Medicare from negotiating for lower prices.
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