UHS physician, patient endorse insulin cost legislation

Legislation is needed to hold down the cost of insulin for diabetes patients nationwide and in the Southern Tier.

That’s the message offered by David Kwiatkowski, MD, medical director of the UHS Medical Group and a practicing physician at UHS Primary Care Owego, who spoke June 28 at an in-person news conference hosted in Owego by U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

“Physicians have been using insulin to treat diabetes for decades—it’s not a new medication requiring years of costly research and development,” Dr. Kwiatkowski said.  “Yet its exorbitant cost in recent years is forcing many diabetes patients to make tough choices—do they pay their rent or heating bills, buy clothes for their children or buy their insulin?”

Dr. Kwiatkowski said that when patients have to make such choices, it will most likely be injurious to their health.

“An insulin-dependent diabetic must have insulin to survive, but because of the cost, they may try to stretch their supply by taking less or spacing out their injections,” he noted. 

This results in uncontrolled diabetes and risks dangerous consequences, such as blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, stroke, or neuropathy, which can lead to foot problems and possible amputation, he said.

Irma Bumgardner of Candor, a UHS patient with diabetes, also attended the June 28 public news conference at the Tioga County Health & Human Services Building, where she spoke with reporters.

Sen. Schumer was in Owego to call attention to a bipartisan bill before Congress that would reduce and stabilize the cost of insulin for diabetes patients.

“The Improving Needed Safeguards for Users of Lifesaving Insulin Now (INSULIN) Act,” which the New York senator is supporting, was introduced by his Senate colleagues Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Susan Collins (R-ME).

Insulin has skyrocketed in cost in recent years, making it difficult for a large number of patients to access it.

The bill would require manufacturers to submit a request for a maximum list price for insulin during a plan year and attest that they will not exceed the list price provided, Sen. Schumer’s office reported.

Drug companies that increase the price above the list price would be subject to penalties, and health insurance plans as well would be required to limit price increases for insulin.

At UHS locations, patient wellness coordinators work to help patients afford insulin through the UHS Financial Assistance Program and a cost-reduction program offered to qualifying patients by the UHS Pharmacies.

“But if insulin were more affordable in the first place, we could help more patients with their other needs, like finding affordable transportation or nutritious food for their families,” Dr. Kwiatkowski noted.

In a recent statement, Sen. Schumer said:  “It is my intention to bring the INSULIN Act to the floor of the Senate very soon, and it ought to pass this chamber expeditiously.”

PHOTO: At a news conference in Owego, Sen. Schumer, left, and Dr. Kwiatkowski discuss proposed legislation to cap the cost of insulin.