Allison Winter, Author at The Pulse

As insulin costs soar, diabetics say a $35 cap on co-pays is not enough

By Allison Winter

June 14, 2022

In News, public health

Lacy Mason of Atlanta relies on often prohibitively expensive insulin injections to manage here diabetes. (Courtesy photo)

WASHINGTON — Lacy Mason was a 21-year-old graduate student in Atlanta when she started rationing her insulin. As a Type 1 diabetic, she needs to take insulin every day for survival. But when the cost surged to $960 a month, Mason could no longer afford it.

She had aged out of Medicaid and her student health insurance didn’t help. So she counted the vials she had stored in her refrigerator and did the impossible math of trying to figure out how to make her supply last until graduation. She was a year short.

“Things started kind of getting desperate, honestly,” Mason said.

Mason is one of many diabetics who have rationed the life-saving medicine as the cost of the four most popular types of insulin tripled over the last decade, according to the American Diabetes Association. In the United States, 1 in 4 people with diabetes have resorted to rationing their insulin, according to the group.

Congress in response is considering legislation that would cap insulin co-pays at $35 for Americans with private health insurance. The House passed a bipartisan bill in March, and aides for lawmakers working on the issue say it is a placeholder for what will be a bipartisan Senate compromise. They hope the Senate can vote on it as a standalone bill this summer.

But the House bill does not address what happens to people without health insurance, or do anything to curb the spiraling cost of insulin, health analysts say.

Mason, for example, worked weekends and connected with other diabetics in a “black market” for survival — she met people in parking lots to buy insulin, used expired insulin, and accepted leftover insulin from friends’ deceased relatives.

She is now able to afford insulin through a combination of employer insurance, coupons from insulin manufacturers and her full-time work.

But Mason wants the federal government to step in, so that she and all others whose lives depend on insulin do not have to worry if they can afford it in the future.

“The main thing that really bothers me with my story is it doesn’t really seem to matter what demographic or area you are in life, you can still fall into an underinsured or uninsured category and be left in a position where it is really hard to afford, and that is still happening,” Mason said.

Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) is seeking passage of legislation to cap the price of insulin.

Warnock bill

The issue has gained some momentum on Capitol Hill. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat, introduced a bill in February that would cap insulin co-pays at $35. It has the backing of the American Diabetes Association and 35 Democratic cosponsors. Warnock has promoted the issue with events in Georgia and Washington, D.C.

His proposal could provide financial relief to at least 1 out of 5 insulin users with various kinds of private health insurance, according to an analysis of insurance claims data from the Peterson Center on Healthcare and Kaiser Family Foundation.

But the legislation would offer no additional relief for the uninsured, according to health policy analysts.

The House of Representatives passed its version of the bill, which Rep. Angie Craig, a Minnesota Democrat, introduced, at the end of March with unanimous support from Democrats and backing from 12 Republicans.

Now it sits in the gridlocked Senate. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said he will try to advance the issue and placed the House bill on the Senate calendar at the end of May.

The procedural move does not guarantee that the Senate will ever vote on it but allows legislation to come to the Senate floor without going through the full committee process first.

Warnock sent Schumer a letter June 6, saying he was “deeply disappointed” the legislation had not received a vote and thanking him for this procedural step forward

“The time is now to finally act on this critical issue, and we can’t afford to wait any longer,” Warnock wrote.

Bipartisan bill

Separately, Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, are co-chairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus and the lead negotiators for a bipartisan effort in the Senate. Read more

U.S. House Ag panel mulls safety net changes in farm bill amid soaring costs

By Allison Winter

June 10, 2022

In agriculture, News

Four states win federal grants to expand affordable high-speed internet

By Allison Winter

June 7, 2022

In News

Image: Adobe Stock

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday announced the first state awards will go to Virginia, Louisiana, New Hampshire and West Virginia in a massive federal effort to bring affordable, high-speed internet to all American homes and businesses.

Projects in the four states are the first to receive funding as part of a $10 billion capital project fund for broadband access, included as part of Congress’ 2021 COVID-19 relief bill, the American Rescue Plan.

The program is one of a spate of new initiatives to try to make high-speed internet attainable for all Americans.

“COVID drove home the point that broadband is not a ‘nice to have,’ it is an economic necessity,” Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner, who pushed for the broadband plan in the Senate, said in a call with reporters on Monday to announce the awards.

High-speed internet remains out of reach for tens of millions of Americans, many in rural areas. Those living in more remote areas are among the last to get access because for most big broadband companies, it has not been profitable enough to connect to the small number of households there.

Nearly 20 percent of rural Americans do not have access to 25/3 Mbps or faster broadband service, according to the 2021 report on access from the Federal Communications Commission.

Urgency of access

The pandemic demonstrated the urgency of internet access, as people relied on remote connections for medical visits, school and work.

In response, Congress allocated record funding levels to expand broadband access to underserved communities — through the infrastructure bill, various COVID-19 relief bills and the fiscal 2022 spending bill. The new cash-inflows create a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for states to connect nearly everyone to high speed internet.

“Three to four years from now, we should not have an excuse if you are not able to get broadband,” said Warner.

The American Rescue Plan has already spent or committed more than $25 billion to invest in affordable high-speed internet and connectivity. Of that sum, $10 billion is through the capital projects fund, which will provide resources directly to states

Those working on the program say this new push of funding and programs from state and federal governments represents a new era. Gene Sperling, the White House American Rescue Plan coordinator, said he has been working on various efforts to close the digital divide since the Clinton administration and has never seen anything like what is happening now.

“Without question there has never been anything like a pandemic to create a national teaching moment that we cannot have equality unless all Americans have access to high speed affordable internet,” Sperling said.

Too many programs?

But a federal watchdog agency recently criticized the government for excessive programs to expand internet access. There are more than 100 federal programs administered by 15 different agencies, according to a report last week from the Government Accountability Office. The oversight agency said it has led to a fragmented, overlapping patchwork of programs that should be synchronized.

Jacob Leibenluft, who oversees this program for the Treasury Department, said his agency has worked with others across the federal government to collaborate on data and programs to try to manage around the issue.

The first grants include $177 million to Louisiana to connect nearly 88,500 homes that lack internet access through a competitive grant program in the state. State officials estimate it will close the digital divide for about 25 percent of those in the state without high-speed internet.

Virginia will get $220 million to expand high-speed internet access to more than 76,800 homes and businesses — about 28% of those that lack internet.

New Hampshire will receive $50 million to bring high-speed internet service to 15,000 homes and businesses through the state’s Broadband Contract Program. The program aims to connect the most underserved rural areas of the state and should bring high-speed internet to half of those who currently lack it, according to state officials.

These states are the first to receive grants because they were the first fully developed plans to come in, according to the Treasury Department. The agency will continue to approve plans from states on a rolling basis. The deadline for states to submit their plans is in late September.

Wildfire responders urge Congress to improve disaster aid process for at-risk communities

By Allison Winter

October 27, 2021

In Environment, News

Image: AdobeStock

WASHINGTON — The federal government should re-examine its emergency response systems to better assist communities at risk from the growing threats of wildfire, state and local wildfire responders told members of Congress Tuesday.

Wildfires across the United States have become larger, more intense and longer-lasting this century in part due to changes in the global climate—creating more demand for federal aid in response to the fires and for mitigation in fire-prone areas.

“Climate change, dangerous fuel accumulations and increased development in the wildland urban interface has caused a significant increase in catastrophic loss of life, property and ecosystems across the United States, most dramatically in the Western U.S.,” Kacey KC, the Nevada State Forester Firewarden, told members of a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee at a hearing.

The hearing comes as Western states recover from another massive wildfire season.

In 2021, more than 48,000 wildfires burned over 6.5 million acres in the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, a government group dedicated to fire management.

That added to the significant toll of wildfires over the past 15 years, as states often see record years for wildfires. Since NIFC started its modern record-keeping of wildfires in 1983, there have been 10 years when 8 million acres or more burned. All of those records occurred since 2004.

“All Western states have seen record-setting wildfires in recent years. Drought conditions have resulted in forests ready to explode—whether from a lightning bolt, errant campfire spark, utility lines being interrupted by trees, or an arsonist’s match,” said Rep. Dina Titus, (D-Nev.), who led the hearing.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency—the federal government’s response arm for disasters— issued five major disaster declarations from fires last year. The agency also provided 33 Fire Management Assistance Grants, its major tool to help states manage land to try to mitigate wildfires before they start.

“It is critical for us to ensure FEMA is positioned to assist those communities to prepare for, mitigate against and recover from wildfires. And it may be very different than what is needed for floods or hurricanes,” said Rep. Daniel Webster, (R-Fla.). “People need to get assistance without costly delays and mountains of paperwork.”

‘Now is the time to learn’

State wildfire recovery experts say FEMA’s help is increasingly necessary, but many of the agency’s programs are slow to respond to the immediacy of fire threats. Read more

Congressional Democrats seek support services for survivors of Native American boarding schools

By Allison Winter

August 24, 2021

In News, race

Five young male Sioux student, c. 1880 – Photo: Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center

WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers are pushing federal agencies to provide support for survivors of and communities affected by American Indian boarding school policies, the decades-long practice of forcibly sending Native American children to faraway boarding schools that rejected their tribal cultures.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) sent a request this month for the government to set up “culturally appropriate supports” for the trauma that Native American communities may experience as the federal government begins to investigate the painful history of these schools.

That support could include creating a crisis hotline or offering counseling services. Nineteen other members of Congress signed on to the letter to leaders of the Indian Health Service, Interior Department, and Department of Health and Human Services.

They include Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Reps. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.).

At issue are years of trauma from the federal government’s push, starting in the late 1800s, to remove hundreds of thousands of Native American children from their communities.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has directed her agency to investigate the painful chapter of U.S. history. That probe will include attempting to identify the children who attended, as well as finding records of cemeteries or burial sites connected with the schools that may contain unidentified human remains.

As the investigation unfolds, the 21 members of Congress want the federal government to do more to aid Native American communities in processing the probe’s findings.

“The legacy of these policies continues to impact Native communities through intergenerational trauma, grief over the loss of children who never returned, cycles of violence and abuse, disappearance, health disparities, substance abuse, premature deaths, despair, and additional undocumented psychological trauma,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter.

Specifically, they want to see the Indian Health Service work with other agencies to support survivors, their families and their communities as the investigation “will inevitably shed light on extremely troubling episodes in our nation’s history.”

The lawmakers’ letter was prompted by a request from the National Indian Health Board, a nonprofit that provides health policy research for all 574 federally recognized tribes, and the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, a nonprofit formed by Native American groups a decade ago.

“The first step we need to take is caring for our boarding school survivors,” said Deborah Parker, a member of the Tulalip Tribes and the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition’s director of policy and advocacy.

Parker added that she’s grateful the lawmakers on the letter “have recognized the importance and urgency of putting in place trauma-informed supports for our American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian relatives.”

A painful history

The Indian Health Service is reviewing the lawmakers’ request and is discussing next steps, according to a statement from an agency spokesperson. Read more

Posts by awinter

As insulin costs soar, diabetics say a $35 cap on co-pays is not enough

U.S. House Ag panel mulls safety net changes in farm bill amid soaring costs

Four states win federal grants to expand affordable high-speed internet

Wildfire responders urge Congress to improve disaster aid process for at-risk communities

Congressional Democrats seek support services for survivors of Native American boarding schools

Top Stories from NCPW

Unnatural Disaster

Recent Blog Posts

Login

Posts by awinter

As insulin costs soar, diabetics say a $35 cap on co-pays is not enough

U.S. House Ag panel mulls safety net changes in farm bill amid soaring costs

Four states win federal grants to expand affordable high-speed internet

Wildfire responders urge Congress to improve disaster aid process for at-risk communities

Congressional Democrats seek support services for survivors of Native American boarding schools

Top Stories from NCPW

Unnatural Disaster

Recent Blog Posts