Really, You Couldn't Throw Your Mom $35 a Month...

[Spock]

To save her life?

Apparently, you would rather have a dead mother and be able to blame Republicans instead of sending her $35 a month and having a live mother.

One presumes that a candidate for congress can afford $35 a month.

Christy Smith-Democrat candidate for US House in California District 27.

https://twitter.com/ChristySmithCA/stat ... 9962099714

>>>"My mom’s life could’ve been saved by $35 month insulin. I don’t understand Republicans politicizing life saving care.

And by politicizing I mean monetizing for campaign coffers."<<<

[Bob78164]

To save her life?

Apparently, you would rather have a dead mother and be able to blame Republicans instead of sending her $35 a month and having a live mother.

One presumes that a candidate for congress can afford $35 a month.

Christy Smith-Democrat candidate for US House in California District 27.

https://twitter.com/ChristySmithCA/stat ... 9962099714

>>>"My mom’s life could’ve been saved by $35 month insulin. I don’t understand Republicans politicizing life saving care.

And by politicizing I mean monetizing for campaign coffers."<<<

You have missed the point. Democrats want the price of insulin co-pays to be capped at $35 per month. Republicans (43 of them) successfully killed that provision, so instead some insulin patients have to pay several hundred dollars per month. Which is why we read stories about American citizens dying from diabetes because they couldn't afford their insulin. (Or maybe those stories never made it to Fox News, so you missed them.)

But go ahead and try to defend those Republican votes. --Bob

[Weyoun]

Bob is right. You completely misread the proposal. Stick to psychoanalyzing lesbians.

[SportsFan68]

At the risk of taking on Spock, I believe the Dems are on the side of the angels on this one. Republicans killed a provision that would have capped insulin co-pays at $35.

[tlynn78]

Politics at its "finest", on both sides.

[flockofseagulls104]

I know that I don't know what I don't know.

I don't know what this politician is complaining about on twitter. I don't know the specifics of the situation.

But can politicians in Washington really decide how much ANYTHING costs, or should cost?

Why don't they pass a law that says no cancer treatment or surgery should cost more than $100?

Now, I'm sure it's possible that the drug manufacturers are trying to charge as much as they can to make a profit.
Are they colluding with each other, assuming there is more than one company that produces insulin? If just one company that makes insulin charges a reasonable price for their product, it would kinda screw up the sales of the ones overcharging for it.
Or is it the Insurance companies that are overcharging for insulin?
If it is, then fine. There are probably laws on the books to punish companies for price fixing or gouging. Or from insurance companies from overcharging. Prove your contention and punish the ones who are price gouging for insulin. Find them guilty and impose a huge fine on them or drive them out of business. But as the baby formula fiasco showed us, try to do it in a way that doesn't effect the overall supply.

Is the bill in question providing taxpayer money to pay the costs over $35 for insulin? If so, why is insulin so special? I mean it is, but how many other life saving drugs are there? Do the Washington politicians want to get into the business of subsidizing every life-saving drug? And, to be a mean-spirited conservative: why should I have to pay for someone else's life-saving drug? Will they be paying for mine if and when I need it?

But it is pretty damn easy for politicians to pick a target and pretend to be justice warriors by 'making a law' to place a cap on the price of this and the price of that. Not even worrying about any unintended consequences.

And the majority of us just fall for it - every time. Which is why they keep doing it. It makes them look good and gives them something to throw at the other side.

[flockofseagulls104]

Oh boy. Like everything else in Washington, lots of intrigue over insulin......

https://www.t1international.com/blog/20 ... expensive/

Apparently bullshit and manipulation on all sides. Except on the side of the people whose lives depend on it.

Ain't gonna get really fixed anytime soon, cause there's no one who wants to. Band-aids will be applied.

[Bob78164]

Politics at its "finest", on both sides.

Both sides? Really? Democrats (including Jon Tester) were and are ready to pass a bill capping out-of-pocket expense for insulin at $35 per month for all consumers. (The portion of the bill applying to Medicare patients survived the Byrd bath.) Republicans (including Steve Daines) blocked it. I don't see how they can hope to justify that vote to their constituents. --Bob

[silverscreenselect]

Why don't they pass a law that says no cancer treatment or surgery should cost more than $100?

Is the bill in question providing taxpayer money to pay the costs over $35 for insulin? If so, why is insulin so special? I mean it is, but how many other life saving drugs are there? Do the Washington politicians want to get into the business of subsidizing every life-saving drug?

They don't have a law about what surgeries should cost, but insurance companies do have limits on what they will pay. Hospitals go along with that price schedule or they find themselves out of the network, and no hospital can afford to be without Anthem or Humana patients for very long.

The bill put a $35 cap on what Medicare will pay for insulin, instead of just going along for the ride for whatever drug companies charge. Considering that it costs $98 a unit in the US as opposed to $12 a unit in Canada and $8 a unit in Great Britain, pharmaceutical companies can obviously make a good profit by selling insulin at a lot less than $98. The bill that the Republicans blocked would have extended that same $35 cap to private insurance plans, but it didn't go through.

[flockofseagulls104]

Politics at its "finest", on both sides.

Both sides? Really? Democrats (including Jon Tester) were and are ready to pass a bill capping out-of-pocket expense for insulin at $35 per month for all consumers. (The portion of the bill applying to Medicare patients survived the Byrd bath.) Republicans (including Steve Daines) blocked it. I don't see how they can hope to justify that vote to their constituents. --Bob

Of course you can't.

[tlynn78]

Politics at its "finest", on both sides.

Both sides? Really? Democrats (including Jon Tester) were and are ready to pass a bill capping out-of-pocket expense for insulin at $35 per month for all consumers. (The portion of the bill applying to Medicare patients survived the Byrd bath.) Republicans (including Steve Daines) blocked it. I don't see how they can hope to justify that vote to their constituents. --Bob

Because Republican constituents aren't stupid

[silverscreenselect]

I don't see how they can hope to justify that vote to their constituents. --Bob

Because Republican constituents aren't stupid

That's probably the funniest thing you've ever said on this Bored.

[tlynn78]

I don't see how they can hope to justify that vote to their constituents. --Bob

Because Republican constituents aren't stupid

That's probably the funniest thing you've ever said on this Bored.

Keep telling yourself fairytales, we'll see how that works for you.

[a1mamacat]

I know that I don't know what I don't know.

I don't know what this politician is complaining about on twitter. I don't know the specifics of the situation.

But can politicians in Washington really decide how much ANYTHING costs, or should cost?

Why don't they pass a law that says no cancer treatment or surgery should cost more than $100?

Now, I'm sure it's possible that the drug manufacturers are trying to charge as much as they can to make a profit.
Are they colluding with each other, assuming there is more than one company that produces insulin? If just one company that makes insulin charges a reasonable price for their product, it would kinda screw up the sales of the ones overcharging for it.
Or is it the Insurance companies that are overcharging for insulin?
If it is, then fine. There are probably laws on the books to punish companies for price fixing or gouging. Or from insurance companies from overcharging. Prove your contention and punish the ones who are price gouging for insulin. Find them guilty and impose a huge fine on them or drive them out of business. But as the baby formula fiasco showed us, try to do it in a way that doesn't effect the overall supply.

Is the bill in question providing taxpayer money to pay the costs over $35 for insulin? If so, why is insulin so special? I mean it is, but how many other life saving drugs are there? Do the Washington politicians want to get into the business of subsidizing every life-saving drug? And, to be a mean-spirited conservative: why should I have to pay for someone else's life-saving drug? Will they be paying for mine if and when I need it?

But it is pretty damn easy for politicians to pick a target and pretend to be justice warriors by 'making a law' to place a cap on the price of this and the price of that. Not even worrying about any unintended consequences.

And the majority of us just fall for it - every time. Which is why they keep doing it. It makes them look good and gives them something to throw at the other side.

My cancer surgery and treatment cost me nothing, zilch, zero, nada.

Big J’s father is diabetic. He only pays for the test strips, not the needles or insulin.

So yes, it can be done.

[Bob78164]

I know that I don't know what I don't know.

I don't know what this politician is complaining about on twitter. I don't know the specifics of the situation.

But can politicians in Washington really decide how much ANYTHING costs, or should cost?

Why don't they pass a law that says no cancer treatment or surgery should cost more than $100?

Now, I'm sure it's possible that the drug manufacturers are trying to charge as much as they can to make a profit.
Are they colluding with each other, assuming there is more than one company that produces insulin? If just one company that makes insulin charges a reasonable price for their product, it would kinda screw up the sales of the ones overcharging for it.
Or is it the Insurance companies that are overcharging for insulin?
If it is, then fine. There are probably laws on the books to punish companies for price fixing or gouging. Or from insurance companies from overcharging. Prove your contention and punish the ones who are price gouging for insulin. Find them guilty and impose a huge fine on them or drive them out of business. But as the baby formula fiasco showed us, try to do it in a way that doesn't effect the overall supply.

Is the bill in question providing taxpayer money to pay the costs over $35 for insulin? If so, why is insulin so special? I mean it is, but how many other life saving drugs are there? Do the Washington politicians want to get into the business of subsidizing every life-saving drug? And, to be a mean-spirited conservative: why should I have to pay for someone else's life-saving drug? Will they be paying for mine if and when I need it?

But it is pretty damn easy for politicians to pick a target and pretend to be justice warriors by 'making a law' to place a cap on the price of this and the price of that. Not even worrying about any unintended consequences.

And the majority of us just fall for it - every time. Which is why they keep doing it. It makes them look good and gives them something to throw at the other side.

My cancer surgery and treatment cost me nothing, zilch, zero, nada.

Big J’s father is diabetic. He only pays for the test strips, not the needles or insulin.

So yes, it can be done.

The $35 per month cap will apply here to Medicare and Medicaid patients. Just not to those using private insurance.

So every voter who has to choose between food, heat, and insulin will know whom to blame. So will all of their family members. This cap could have been added to the bill, but 43 Republican senators decided that something was more important than their constituents' lives and well being. I'll be waiting with bated breath to find out what that was. --Bob