Gov. Gavin Newsom has been on a bit of a roll lately. First, there was his TV ad that aired in Florida, taking on the restrictive laws that Gov. DeSantis has had passed, and welcoming those in the state to the protections of freedom in California. Then there were the full page ads he took out in Texas papers, taking on the restrictive abortion laws in the state pushed by Gov. Abbott, by touting the new, tough gun laws in California by noting, in one of the ads – “If Texas can ban abortion and endanger lives, California can ban deadly weapons of war and save lives. If Governor Abbott truly wants to protect the right to life, we urge him to follow California's lead.” This came at the time two weeks ago Newsom helped push through new gun laws in the state, which I wrote about here. And then last week, Gov. Newsom announced perhaps his most fascinating project – dealing with a problem he’s talked about taking office, but only finally brought to fruition. What’s surprising is that is truly major, hugely so, yet it’s gotten very little national attention. I only found out about it when I got a text message from Newsom. And while it has been covered in California, it hasn’t gotten much anywhere else. Which is boggling when you realize that this is the story -- Newsom announced that because the cost of insulin, the critical drug in dealing with diabetes, is so incredibly high, the state of California was going to develop its own insulin, manufacture it and distribution close to cost. Yes, really. The state has approved $100 million for the project. That includes $50 million for the development of insulin products, and another $50 million to manufacture and distribute it, creating new jobs at the same time. How high is the cost of insulin in the U.S.? The nonprofit Rand Corporation studied 34 countries, and the second-highest country was Chile where the price per unit is $25. Again, that’s the second most expensive in the world. In the U.S., which has the highest cost, it’s $100 per unit, on average, four time as much – as the second highest. The health care organization CharityRx recently commission a survey and found that among Americans who need insulin, four out of five have taken on an average credit card debit of $9,000 to pay for the medication. So, it’s not like California’s project came out of the blue. In fact, this past March, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which would cap insulin costs at $35 for people with private health insurance and the Medicare drug benefit. It will not shock you to learn that the Senate has not yet passed the bill. Whether other states create their own projects, or whether insulin manufacturers in the U.S. will be lowering their costs -- and whether the Senate will pass the House bill, remains to be seen. Including whether, if the program is successful, California will eventually begin selling its insulin to other states. So, as Gov. Newsom said, “California is now taking matters into our own hands. Because in California, we know people should not go into debt to receive life-saving medication.” Here’s a brief news report on it, with a little bit of Newsom’s video announcement.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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