Insulin and the MAGA Mensa

Boggling the mind

Those of us of the non-MAGA persuasion are constantly puzzled by MAGA voters’ penchant for voting against their own interests. It’s brain-bending. The examples abound; Perhaps nowhere more so than in the context of health care.

Let’s narrow that down to pharmaceuticals, to keep this manageable. No. Let’s narrow it down further; Let’s consider diabetes and insulin, interlaced matters of high priority to many Americans, including (particularly) those in Red states.

Among many of the Executive Orders Trump has vomited up since re-taking office, was an EO undoing multiple (78, to be precise) of Biden’s presidential actions, including key initiatives aimed at lowering prescription costs and enabling access to affordable health coverage.

Those of us with family and friends suffering from diabetes and reliant on Insulin know how challenging it is to manage the day-to-day costs. The Biden Administration recognized the priority concern; The legislation Biden ultimately signed imposed a $35 monthly cap insulin, which until then had cost a staggering $5,917 a year.

Trump undid that, clearly “putting America first.” Those dependent on Insulin – including Trump’s Red state voters - are reeling, forced back into a Big Pharma-nightmare where a single vial of Insulin may well soon climb back upwards of $300.

What on earth could have prompted the guy that advocated for lower drug costs in his first Administration to undo a successful initiative to do exactly that? Sadly, the answer is remarkably simple. Trump gives zero f*cks for American diabetics, or American health or health-care costs in general: Undoing the Insulin cap put $6,000 - per patient – ~$50 billion - back into the coffers of Big Pharma.

Quite the “man of the people,” no?