Minnesota Senate Republicans moved their insulin assistance plan forward in committee late Thursday, but continue resisting Democrats’ efforts to charge drug makers a fee to help pay for the program. G-O-P lawmakers contend insulin manufacturers will step up to the plate, and Ham Lake Senator Michelle Benson from Ham Lake urged them, “You have to want to give relief to your patients. The idea that rebates should be passed down to people at the point of sale — how about you just have a normal price, at the point of sale?”
Democrats contend drug manufacturers have pushed up the price of insulin, and some of their profits should go to help people who can no longer afford the life-saving drug.