Emergency insulin proposal doesn’t survive special session, will be priority in 2020

ST. PAUL — A proposal to require insulin manufacturers to fund a program that offers emergency access to uninsured diabetics or those who can’t afford their medication will have to wait until 2020, lawmakers decided in the early hours of Saturday, May 25.

In a special legislative session, the Minnesota Senate and then the House of Representatives voted down proposals that would offer stopgap insulin supplies for Minnesotans who couldn’t get them otherwise.

The proposals came up as lawmakers weighed the biggest, most complex budget bill that funds health and human service programs, mostly for poor and disabled Minnesotans. The legislation takes up about 40% of the state’s $48 billion, two-year budget.

Sen. Melissa Wiklund, D-Bloomington, narrowly failed in her attempt to get senators to adopt an amendment to help diabetics who cannot afford insulin. Her proposal called for charging insulin makers a fee.

View the complete May 25 article by Dana Ferguson on The Duluth News Tribune website here.