HARLINGEN, Texas (KVEO) State lawmakers are continuing their legislative session in Austin this week, on the deck: House Bill 40 (HB 40), which would put a limit to the out-of-pocket expense insured diabetics would have to pay for insulin. <\/p>\n
Lawmakers are also working on a range of bills from reforms to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to ratifying a heartbeat bill that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected.<\/p>\n
According to data from the UT Pan-America Border Health Office now just the Border Health Office at UTRGV in 2006, 26% of the population of the Rio Grande Valley had diabetes.<\/p>\n
Dr. Eron Manusov, a professor of human genetics at UTRGV, said that the percent of people with diabetes in the Rio Grande Valley is now around 32%.<\/p>\n
Many of those patients are not getting adequate medical care to manage their diabetes until its too late.<\/p>\n
When Im in the hospital, I admit multiple patients with end-stage liver disease, end-stage kidney disease, multiple amputations, because they have not taken care of their diabetes, said Manusov.<\/p>\n
Since 2012, the average monthly cost of insulin has increased from around $200 to nearly $460. For some, it can be much higher. <\/p>\n
Manusov, who mostly treats low-income, uninsured, or otherwise vulnerable patients, said that his patients struggle to keep up with the increasing costs. <\/p>\n
We have people who are suffering because they cant afford it, he said.<\/p>\n
HB 40 would change that. If ratified, it would cap the monthly out-of-pocket costs for insured diabetics to $100 a month.<\/p>\n
That includes all insulins, including rapid-acting and long-acting. That would be a major boon for us, said Manusov.<\/p>\n
The American Diabetes Association website says there are five types of insulin in use, they are listed below:<\/p>\n
The bill does indeed state the law will apply regardless of the type of insulin a person uses, which would allow those like Dr. Manusov to better treat uninsured patients by giving them access to higher quality, longer-lasting insulin options.<\/p>\n
Having the option to give better insulin for a maximum monthly cost of $100 could make a huge dent in our healthcare costs, not to mention quality of life, said Manusov.<\/p>\n
HB 40 has wide bipartisan support. The bill has 65 Democratic sponsors\/ cosponsors, as well as 38 Republican sponsors\/ cosponsors. <\/p>\n
Despite the wide support across both sides of the aisle, Manusov said he expected lobbyists representing the three companies that make insulin, Eli Lilly,Novo Nordisk, andSanofi, to challenge the bill.<\/p>\n
If it works, I would be one happy man because I could help so many more people, said Manusov.<\/p>\n
Eddie Lucio III, the Democratic State Representative from District 38 in Cameron County, is one of the co-sponsors of the bill.<\/p>\n
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View original post here: HARLINGEN, Texas (KVEO) State lawmakers are continuing their legislative session in Austin this week, on the deck: House Bill 40 (HB 40), which would put a limit to the out-of-pocket expense insured diabetics would have to pay for insulin. Lawmakers are also working on a range of bills from reforms to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to ratifying a heartbeat bill that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected Continue reading
\nWe have people who are suffering because they cant afford it: State House bill aims to cap cost of insulin - KGBT-TV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"