Consumer Protection
Life-sustaining medications for older Oregonians with diabetes cost federal healthcare nearly five times as they do in Australia, according to a new report done for U.S. Rep. Suzane Bonamici's office.
A dramatic rise in insulin costs over the last two decades has created a crisis in the United States, according to the report, driving people to ration out their medications, sometimes with fatal results.
The cost of insulin for Medicare recipients in Northwest Oregon is 4.6 times higher than it would be in Australia, according to a report recently released by Northwest Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici.
The report, produced by the House Oversight and Reform Committee, compares the prices for the 50 most popular name-brand diabetes medications in Northwest Oregon to the same drugs in Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada.
The cost of insulin for Medicare recipients in Northwest Oregon is 4.6 times higher than it would be in Australia, according to a report recently released by Northwest Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici.
"No one should have to jeopardize their health or worry about affording food because of exorbitant prices for insulin," Bonamici said in the press release. "Companies are charging much more for these critical drugs in the U.S. than abroad, hurting seniors and families in Northwest Oregon and across the country."
Diabetes medications in Oregon cost twice as much as in Canada – and more than four times as much as in Australia – according to a new report for Congress from the House Oversight and Reform Committee. It compares the prices for 50 brand-name diabetes drugs in Oregon to those in other developed countries. It found Medicare beneficiaries in Oregon pay more than $1,000 more per year for insulin.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change voted unanimously Sept. 26 to move the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2019 to the full House. The bill is sponsored by Oregon U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and Sen. Jeff Merkley.
"It is long past time to protect workers and communities by banning asbestos once and for all, and I look forward to working with the Senate and getting this bill across the finish line," Bonamici said in a press statement.
Oregon Democratic Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici talks gun laws, student loan debt, climate change, making childcare affordable, and more about her top priorities in Congress after the Augest recess.
Watch the full interview above.
That's the most complaints of any month this year—and up 35 percent from June, when Oregonians filed 7,189 complaints.
Of the complaints filed last month, 83 percent were about recorded messages, or robocalls, and the telephone number people complained about most frequently was 408-960-0110.