Commission I also wanna thank constituents who are who are here today to shed light on the high prices of insulin they're, having on everyday people in our community of annual here from for each of them shortly We have this congressional report that we Commission specifically for this Congressional District California's 40 Fourth Congressional District The highest number of Is important for us to get before In the community The district is a majority minority district it's almost 90 percent Latino africanamerican which also happens to be those who are highly impacted by having diabetes now type one diabetes in particular Today who are adding time for diabetes they have no choice they need insulin This is not a This is not a medicine that day choosing whether they want or not This is a lifesaving medicine that they need to survive and many are struggling to afford medication We hear stories every single day Patients that are rationing their insulin putting their lives at stake by doing this completely unacceptable which is why Congress is acting to make sure that we do something to help the American people to back these high prices So if you take a look at this before we Commission You'll see that 17000 seniors and disabled Medicare beneficiaries have been diagnosed with diabetes right here in California's 40 Fourth District now District makes some top 50 diabetes medications cost the Medicare program and beneficiaries a prophecy approximately nine point, five billion dollars. In 2016 The report outlines that residents of my district Than they would if they were in other countries The costume Medicare for the top 50 drugs are four point, three times higher than the cost of the same drug than if you were in Australia three point, three times higher than the same drug than if you were in the United Kingdom and two and a half times higher than same drugs in Canada Now 87000 uninsured residents live in the district who are forced to pay for prescription drugs on their own And while we don't know how many of those uninsured residents have diabetes we know that uninsured diabetes patients in a district pay on average $635 for a monthly supply of insulin ask compare to 28 dollars That's, right, 28 dollars in Australia $42 in the United Kingdom and $47 in Canada We cannot allow this to continue And this is why Congress has been having hearings on why Congress is acting the past legislation and I'll talk more about that but first I want you to hear from constituents who are record Impacted by Point diabetes from four weeks constituent I would like to bring up Doctor Zola Who's, the owner and the pharmacist Community pharmacy to share some remarks and provide perspective on this problem Doctor I wanna thank the congressman for finding myself to come to address you on But Community pharmacists for over 10 years where the congressman was talking about I've seen countless times patients to make a decision between buying their insulin or paying for rent or putting food on the table for their children or grandchildren and let the congressman said this is unacceptable There is no reason that anyone should ever have to make that tough decision and I applaud the congresswoman for tackling this issue The cost but medications, especially instance or getting out of control and I water for tackling the issue Thank you And and now I'd like to bring up a some of my constituents I wanna start with Paula Lopez She's, a high school student from Southgate with type one diabetes who met with me earlier last year about the situation and I think you need to hear directly from her Thank you everyone for being here the price of insulin is very high and it's arrest for us type one diabetes, because not everyone has the privilege of having insurance and we won't be able to afford it and we really needed to take care of ourselves and have well-being and good health And you know when I met with Powell and her mother several months ago they talked about how challenging it was for them to be able to juggle and afford all the expenses that are Associated with having type of diabetes Nobody should have to live under those circumstances up next. I'm Gonna bring up another constituent of mine Nikita comes from Wilmington Hello my name is Nikita Colum, Harris and I've been living with type one diabetes for 7225 days I've, given myself 41160 fingerprints and I made 482 insulin pump changes since being diagnosed in 1999 I'm, an actress professor and project ambassador for the American Diabetes Association I currently have two complications from diabetes to the lack of vital life sustaining tools that my current insurance still continues to Eye I have gastro paresis which is nerve damage in my stomach and I have neuropathy which is nerve damage in my legs and feet And I was recently hospitalized for two weeks and I see you for not going without insulin for five hours So in just five hours without insulin almost cost me my life and yet the cost of insulin continues to rise for people like me who needed to live not adjusting. This issue is writing a death sentence for the 30 million plus people living with diabetes I've seen citizens The US to get better health insurance to get better costs for their medicine I've seen people like I said earlier, choosing between insulin and food insulin and paying their rent being proactive and preventive care alongside affordable healthcare costs will save the US money long term by decreasing emergency room, visit invitations and intensive care stays like the one I just had earlier this year and since the launch of the 80 eighth make insulin affordable campaign which 400 and 80000 people have fine increased pressure from diabetes advocates like myself a tangible impact on people with diabetes, but we will not be done until all individuals with diabetes see the relief at the pharmacy counter So I want you to help me and all those living with diabetes have a chance at a long term sustainable life and God willing. I have a lot more life to live I have a lot more goals to accomplish I have a lot of impact to make on film and in the classroom and lastly, I'd like the opportunity to have a family with my husband and please Don't deny me and others like me those opportunities We thank you in advance From the diabetes community for your continued aggressive support towards getting this important work done thank you And now we're gonna. Hear from Tasha Wanna thank everyone for being here My name is Todd Russell I was diagnosed with type Just one week before I turned chain and one day before my mom's birthday last year last February, when I turn 24 I was in the hospital for five days, three days an ice and then to the side of the hospital for Dec was my insulin pump wasn't working I was resistant to my which caused by sugar to go up and I put a diet last year as well I remember being in College not being being able to pay for it and some by myself I remember having Sorry I remember having to depend on my friends to help me paper by itself The only thing That's gonna keep you alive so I just want to thank the congressman and listen to our stories and understanding how hard it is to live within People don't know how sick they are because we don't care stake in It's really important for us to have $10 for insulin at all, it should be free, actually cuz a disease that we do not detour soaps This is something that our So I just wanna urge everybody to be aware They continue to fight for affordable Thank you I I do this because of the stories that we just heard and situations and we hear Dan down With insulin was first discovered H U. Hundred years ago those who discovered insulin sold it for $1 to make sure that people who needed it had access to it so that they, Didn't, have to decide between medication and ran for medication and food It's unjust that we have seen the vials of insulin go for $1 to almost over $400 and when we in Congress have had hearings and we continue to have hearings and we have another one next week we have brought The drug manufacturers we brought in the pharmacy benefit managers and everybody's doing this the pointing the finger at each other That's completely unacceptable And this is why Congress has to step in and this is why Congress needs to do something because you're, not gonna have the drug manufacturers and the pharmacy benefit managers doing this on their own Now Since we have started having hearings we have had some collaboration So some insurance companies like Cigna have announced their people are gonna pay no more than $25 for the Insulin but it doesn't it shouldn't, take Congress to step in and to do something about this and That's. Why I'm committed to continue the fight until we see our Americans and our constituents have access to prescription drugs that are lifesaving and insulin that they need to compact their disease As was mentioned people are born with this. This is not a result of something they did and it's unjust for people to have to make these decisions. So I want to mention the House has passed on a bipartisan basis H R Nine 87 it just passed this bill a couple of weeks ago and It's on to the Senate If this bill passes, this will be the first step in making sure that prescription drug pricing comes down How does it do that Well The package of bills is actually seven bills put together and one of those it will end the scheme of what's called pay for delay where drug manufacturers are paying others to not come in Market for generics, not to commit to the market sooner I will that happens prices go down there's more access there's competition and pricing goes down This bill includes other things that make sure there's outreach pillar being enrolled and making sure they have access to affordable health care and so there's a lot of things that this bill will do It is the first step and we need to act because we need to make sure that everybody has access to life saving drugs that they need This is a major piece of legislation that the Senate can act on next week when they get back if they'd like to we need to continue Pressure so that Center Mcconnell gets these bills to a vote and we get progress The President has said that he wants to lower prescription drug pricing This is the start and if he's serious he can get behind this effort and he can make sure to give the Green light so that this bill gets passed and signed into law there's. Another bill I wanna quickly mention called insulin for all This is a bill I cosponsored with Bobby Rush this bill if Becomes law with cover any out of pocket expenses if you're on Medicare and Medicaid and full eliminating any out of pocket cost for insulin if you will have our coverage or those programs so that does not cover if You're uninsured and so we have a lot of work to do on this But It's important for us today to hear the stories of what is happening and make sure we're combating Mac and I will continue to fight in Congress to do that and with that if we have any Since I'd be happy to take a couple Okay we did some interviews beforehand, so we got those out of the way Thank you all for being here today and for joining me and thank you for coming and sharing your stories We There's a look on camera por aquí ministro See that