For Immediate Release

Media Contact:
Angela Allmond, Communications Director
Oklahoma Democratic Party
angela@okdemocrats.org

Oklahoma Republican Delegation Votes Against Lowering Insulin Costs

OKLAHOMA CITY—APRIL 1, 2022 – Nearly 450,000 people in Oklahoma suffer from diabetes, making Oklahoma the fourth-highest age-adjusted diabetes death rate in the nation. Many who depend on insulin, which can cost as much as $1,000 per month, are forced to make life and death decisions when they cannot afford this costly prescription.

The Oklahoma Democratic Party released the following statement after Oklahoma’s Republican Delegation in Congress voted against a bill to cap the cost of insulin for many Americans at $35 per month a year after our own state’s legislature succeeded in a bipartisan effort to cap the copay cost of insulin for Oklahomans with diabetes.

“Cole, Lucas, Hern, Bice, and Mullin are completely disconnected from Oklahoma and what is going on in our state,” commented Oklahoma Democratic Party Chair Alicia Andrews. “Our delegation likes to shoot for headlines and sound bites claiming ‘Oklahoma values,’ but they fail to uphold those values and protect the people who voted them in to do their job. They have forgotten about Oklahomans, and when they had an opportunity to be bipartisan on an issue that would further help Oklahomans and all Americans who depend on insulin, they failed.

“As many as 225,000 in Oklahoma rely on insulin every day. Every year an estimated 27,320 people in Oklahoma are newly diagnosed with diabetes– but right now, many families are forced to choose between making rent or being able to afford a drug they cannot live without. That’s why every Democrat voted to drastically cut the monthly cost of insulin for many Oklahomans – and why President Biden has been pushing to lower drug prices for Americans, including insulin,” continued Andrews.

“Yesterday’s vote by our Republican Delegation against capping insulin costs is a slap in the face to the many Oklahomans on private health insurance and Medicare who depend on this life-saving drug. While Democrats are focused on lowering the cost of insulin and other medications Americans depend on, Republicans are siding with big pharmaceutical companies over peoples’ lives,” Andrews concluded.

This isn’t the first time that Republicans have shown they won’t act to address high drug costs. Earlier this month, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley admitted that a Republican-controlled Senate would not take action on lowering drug prices, saying, “If we want to reduce drug prices, then we need to do it now [under a Democratic Congress].”

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For more information about the Oklahoma Democratic Party, visit the party website at okdemocrats.org, or call party headquarters at 405-427-3366.