For now, Warnock’s proposal to cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 a month is in the bill, but the lawmaker is expected to rule in the Senate that it does not comply with the Byrd Rule, which prohibits policymaking in budget compromises which have a tangential impact on expenditure and revenue.
But Democrats plan to challenge the lawmaker’s decision on the floor, meaning they would need 60 votes to drop an objection to keeping the insulin provision in the bill.
Any attempt to unseat the lawmaker is unlikely to garner 10 Republican votes, but it would put Republicans on record as opposed to a $35-a-month cap on patients’ insulin costs, which Democrats can use as political ammunition in the midterm elections.
“I think it’s hard for elected officials to go home, as everyone has gone now, and try to explain, if they choose to vote this way, why they don’t support getting relief to the millions of Americans who are being crushed by these bills. insulin,” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said before the showdown on the floor.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R) said it was “unfortunate” that Democrats turned the issue into a political football.
Collins has co-sponsored a bipartisan bill with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H.) to lower insulin costs.
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Their bill would encourage insulin makers to lower their list prices and contain costs for diabetes patients by ensuring that group and individual marketplace health plans exempt deductibles and cost-sharing to no more than $35 a month , according to a summary. provided by their offices.
“I think it’s unfortunate that it was included” in the reconciliation package, Collins said of the insulin proposal expected to be defeated on the floor Saturday.
Mychael Schnell contributed.
