GOP senators prove 'commitment to protecting Big Pharma' by opposing $35 insulin cap

Both of North Carolina’s Republican U.S. senators, Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, are facing backlash in their state after opposing a proposal to limit how much private insurance companies can charge for the insulin used by diabetics.

The debate on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which at one point included a $35 insulin price cap for private insurance companies, began Saturday morning and stretched into Sunday.

Watch Washington Democratic Senator Patty Murray plea with Burr, Tillis and other colleagues to vote in favor of the insulin proposal.

Senate Democrats forced Burr, Tillis and other Republicans to go on the record about whether or not they believed a $35 insulin cap should be part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 — and both of them are being lambasted for, critics say, throwing diabetics under the bus.

On Sunday, the U.S. Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a $750 billion package addressing energy, climate change, health care and taxes. The bill passed 51-50 via the process known as budget reconciliation, allowing the Senate’s narrow Democratic majority to bypass the 60-vote rule of the filibuster.

Now, the bill will go to the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration, and Democrats are optimistic that it will pass in the House and make it to President Joe Biden’s desk to be signed into law.

Journalist Danielle Battaglia, in an article published by the Raleigh News and Observer on August 8, stresses that Burr and Tillis are facing a “vehement backlash” in their state for opposing the proposal to limit the cost of insulin to $35. She observes in her article that people took to social media Sunday and Monday ridiculing the North Carolina Senators for their indifference toward insulin users. She notes that, “The posts and tweets were laced with profanity.”

Battaglia also quotes North Carolina’s Democratic Party spokeswoman Ellie Dougherty as saying, “While President Biden and Democrats are working day in and day out to lower the cost of prescription drugs, reduce the deficit and fight rising costs without raising taxes a single penny on middle class families, Burr and Tillis’ vote underscores the GOP’s commitment to protecting Big Pharma and special interests over easing costs for North Carolina families.”

Cheri Beasley, the Democratic nominee in North Carolina’s 2022 U.S. Senate race, was also quick to lambast Burr and Tillis on Twitter stating, “I will always fight for the people — not cower to corporate special interests…. Senator Burr and Tillis’ votes today were inexcusable.”

Senator Burr is not seeking re-election in November and Senator Tillis’s current term does not end until January 2027. It seems that despite the backlash they have received this week, neither will be affected in any meaningful way. In November, Beasley will face off against Trump endorsed Republican nominee Ted Budd for the open senate seat in North Carolina.