DALLAS — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra’s visit to Dallas on Wednesday was as much about the people who fall through the cracks of a new federal cap on insulin costs as it was about the patients who can now get the life-saving diabetes treatment for only $35.
“Here’s the most important part of this new prescription drug pricing: You have to be a Medicare recipient for you to benefit. You have to be 65 years or older or you have to be an American who’s disabled and qualifies for Medicare,” Becerra said. “All those other Americans still are strapped with the unfair negotiation, the unfair pricing that occurs.”
Becerra touted the Inflation Reduction Act, a 2022 law that caps a month’s supply of Medicare-covered insulin at $35 and allows the federal health insurance program for seniors to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers, while on a panel about drug costs at the Baylor Scott & White Health and Wellness Center in South Dallas.
