TOLEDO, Ohio —
According to the National Diabetes Statistics Report, 1 in 10 Americans have some form of diabetes. Autumn Miller is one of those people; she was diagnosed at the age of 1 and a half, and it's been a constant struggle for her entire life.
"I continuously have to check my blood sugar," she said. "I have indents on my fingers from having to check multiple times a day."
Treatment and supplies are far from cheap. Miller, from Toledo, said she pays about $16,000 dollars a year, with insurance. When she heard about the proposed insulin cap, she saw a light at the end of the tunnel.
"I mean if I could pay $35 dollars a month for insulin, I don't know what I could afford at that point because I'm so on a budget right now because of this," she said.
But all of that hope disappeared when Senate Republicans voted to remove the cap from the budget using a process called reconciliation, which makes legislation easier to pass in the Senate.
"It's very frustrating because I wish that people understood that I cannot live without this," Miller said. "I can't go 12 hours without insulin or else I will set myself into DKA, which turns my blood into acid."
Why would anyone support removing the cap? Varun Vaidya, a professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Toledo, said republicans believe maintaining a high price for insulin supports funding for innovation and research. But Vaidya believes that reasoning is a little murky.
"When it comes to insulin, that really puzzles me," Vaidya said. "It's not a new drug, it's not a new invention, the first insulin was separated back in 1923."
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, was one of the politicians who fought to keep the cap.
"There's no reason other than corporate greed for insulin to cost more than $35 a month for all Americans," he said.