Marea humana

Posta

A bipartisan group of senators is resurfacing legislation to cap many American patients’ insulin costs at $35 a month — the INSULIN Act of 2026 — reviving a push that previously stalled.

The bill co-authored by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., and John Kennedy, R-La., would bar group and individual health plans from imposing deductibles on selected insulin products and could not charge more than $35 for a 30-day supply starting in plan year 2027.

Beginning in 2028, patients would pay the lesser of $35 or 25% of the negotiated net price.

Congress had already mandated a Medicare-only cap of $35 in 2022, and President Donald Trump’s long-running agenda to lower prescription medicine costs gives the effort some momentum before the 2026 midterms, where Collins’ seat could be targeted for a Democrat flip amid the very narrow Republican Senate majority (53-47).

SENATE QUIETLY WORKS ON BIPARTISAN OBAMACARE FIX AS HEALTHCARE CLIFF NEARS

«We are the long-time chairs of the Senate Diabetes Caucus, and one of our top priorities is to make insulin more affordable,» Collins said in a Senate hearing last week.

«Our INSULIN Act would impose out-of-pocket limits for patients with commercial insurance, tackle commercial pharmacy benefit managers, and ensure that patients are the ones who are benefiting from the savings that they negotiate, and encourage biosimilar competition in order to lower list prices.»

The bill, first introduced in 2023, has been reworked at Kennedy and Warnock’s urging to include some work to provide capped insulin prices even for the uninsured.

«Our bill also includes provisions to help uninsured Americans access affordable insulin,» Collins continued. «Just this week, I met with a young woman who, a few years ago, ended up in the hospital because she was stretching out her insulin, not taking as much as she was prescribed, because she simply couldn’t afford the cost.»

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK: GOP TARGETS AFFORDABILITY WITH RECONCILIATION 2.0 PLAN AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

The issue aligns with a 2024 Trump presidential campaign vow. Trump has already announced other initiatives to lower prescription drug prices, including an executive order last May on his «Most Favored Nation» (MNF) policy to take action on Big Pharma companies that are not offering the world’s lowest price on drugs to Americans.

«Americans should not be forced to subsidize low-cost prescription drugs and biologics in other developed countries, and face overcharges for the same products in the United States,» Trump’s policy ordered. «Americans must therefore have access to the most-favored-nation price for these products.»

«My Administration will take immediate steps to end global freeloading and, should drug manufacturers fail to offer American consumers the most-favored-nation’s lowest price, my Administration will take additional aggressive action.»

Then, this December, Trump announced agreements with nine Big Pharma companies to lower prices on Americans under the MFN policy, including offering direct to the consumer lowest pricing on TrumpRx, the president’s new prescription drug portal.

GOP MUST RACE FOR NEW ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ TO SLASH COSTS BEFORE MIDTERMS, TOP HOUSE REPUBLICANS WARN

TrumpRX lists Insulin Lispro from Eli Lilly for $25.

Sen. Janine Shaheen, D-N.H., announced last March that she would not be running for reelection. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Collin and Shaheen’s legislation would also offer a limited cap on insulin for the uninsured — an issue reportedly driven by Warnock and Kennedy in the bipartisan group — creating a five-year pilot in 10 states to help uninsured patients get insulin for no more than $35 a month.

«We have already capped insulin for Medicare enrollees at $35 a month — this new INSULIN Act, which we plan to introduce next [this] week, will address insulin affordability for children, adults and those who are uninsured,» Shaheen said in a statement.

«It will do, as the Medicare provision does, cap the cost of employer and private insurance coverage of insulin at $35 a month, create a pilot program to provide $35 a month insulin for uninsured diabetes patients, and it is a direct way to help American families facing economic pressures, and will make people healthier in the long run.»

TRUMP’S RX PLAN PROMISES SAVINGS, BUT ECONOMISTS SEE A HIDDEN TRADE-OFF

While Collins might need the bill for her 2026 midterm election hopes. Shaheen is serving out her final year in the Senate.

«I would really like to be able to leave the Senate thinking that we had helped to address insulin costs for a lot of Americans: This is the most expensive chronic disease,» Shaheen told Semafor, noting Trump’s agenda for capping prices.

«This is something that he should support, because it is affordability.»

Affordability has been the Democrats’ buzzword for the midterms, but Republicans and Trump have argued it has only been an issue Democrats have made after years of inflation under former President Joe Biden.

TRUMP ENDS BIDEN’S DRUG PRICE NIGHTMARE — AMERICANS GET REAL RELIEF WITH TRUMPRX

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., was a part of the bipartisan Senate group pushing the INSULIN Act of 2026 to include provisions to lower insulin costs for the uninsured, too. (Anna Moneymaker / POOL / AFP)

The bill authorizes $100 million for fiscal 2027 for cost-cutting and defines «affordable» insulin as out-of-pocket costs of no more than $35 for a one-month supply.

Collins framed the measure as a response to patients rationing medicine they need to survive.

«I have heard far too many stories from people in Maine and across the country who have been forced to ration their insulin because of the cost, and that is simply unacceptable,» she told Semafor.

Beyond the consumer cap, the bill also tries to lower underlying costs by targeting pharmacy benefit manager practices and encouraging more competition from biosimilars and generics. It orders a federal study on delays in bringing insulin products to market and barriers to biosimilar uptake.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The proposal now faces the harder political test: winning buy-in from Senate leadership and finding a path to must-pass legislation later this year. But after years of failed starts, backers say they finally have a bipartisan framework that could move.

En la frenética carrera para acceder al máximo cargo de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), el diplomático argentino Rafael Grossi parece haber recibido una buena noticia para sus pretensiones con la decisión de Chile de retirar el apoyo a la expresidenta trasandina Michelle Bachelet.

“Hemos llegado a la convicción que el contexto de esta elección, la dispersión de candidaturas de países de América Latina y las diferencias con algunos de los actores relevantes que definen este proceso, hacen inviable esta candidatura y el eventual éxito de esta postulación”, esgrimió en un escueto comunicado el actual gobierno de José Antonio Kast.

La candidatura de Bachelet seguirá adelante porque al momento de su lanzamiento contaba también con el apoyo de Brasil y México. Fue una astuta jugada del por entonces presidente Gabriel Boric a sabiendas de que existía la posibilidad de que el nuevo mandatario Kast hiciera lo que terminó haciendo: retirarle el apoyo.

Pese a las reiteradas críticas de Javier Milei al sistema multilateral en general y a la ONU en particular, el gobierno argentino se comprometió en apoyar y trabajar para impulsar la candidatura de Grossi, renombrado diplomático que en la actualidad encabeza el trascendental Organismo Internacional de Energía Atómica (OEIA).

Durante el lanzamiento formal de su candidatura en la Argentina en diciembre del año pasado, TN pudo confirmar que la Cancillería a cargo de Pablo Quirno designó a un grupo de diplomáticos que desde Buenos Aires monitorearía el proceso junto con la representación permanente de nuestro país en la sede de la ONU en Nueva York.

La retirada del apoyo por parte de Chile podría leerse como un contundente mensaje de que Bachelet no puede lograr un consenso interno ni siquiera en esta importante postulación, lo que podría debilitar su carrera. De todos modos, Brasil es un país de peso que busca tener una banca en una hipotética –y compleja- reforma del Consejo de Seguridad.

Leé también: Rafael Grossi busca convertirse en el primer argentino en liderar la ONU: lanza su candidatura en Buenos Aires

Además de Grossi y Bachelet, los otros candidatos que están en carrera para convertirse en secretario general de la ONU son: la argentina Virginia Gamba, impulsada por Maldivas; Rebeca Grynspan Mayufis, apoyada por su país Costa Rica; y el senegalés Macky Sall, que cuenta con el respaldo de Burundi.

Existe una regla no escrita que el próximo secretario general debe ser latinoamericano. Sólo hubo uno en la historia. El peruano Javier Pérez de Cuéllar ocupó ese cargo durante dos períodos entre 1982 y 1991.

La costarricense Grynspan Mayufis es una de las que, a priori, podría competir cabeza a cabeza con Grossi si la candidatura de Bachelet termina perdiendo peso.

La clave está en la decisión de los cinco miembros permanentes del Consejo de Seguridad (Estados Unidos, Rusia, China, Francia y el Reino Unido), quienes tienen que seleccionar a uno de los candidatos para postularlo frente a la Asamblea General. Será una única opción la que salga desde el máximo órgano de la ONU.

Por ello, es necesario esquivar un veto de estos países. Con que uno sólo decida vetar un nombre, esa persona no podrá continuar en carrera. El perfil dialoguista pero firme de Grossi gusta en el ámbito de la diplomacia internacional. A lo largo de los últimos años pudo demostrar su capacidad de negociar con Putin en el Kremlin, con Zelenski en Kiev o con representantes iraníes el desarrollo de su programa nuclear.

Con las audiencias y exposiciones públicas que los candidatos tendrán en los próximos meses se empezará a dilucidar con mayor claridad las posibilidades reales de cada uno. Puertas adentro de la Casa Rosada, la quita del apoyo de Kast a Bachelet fue leída como una buena noticia para Grossi.