HARDBALL

Republicans Quash $35 Insulin Cap During Senate Vote-a-Rama

The measure would have capped the price for both Medicare and private insurance recipients, but it will instead be limited to solely Medicare members.

In the heat of the Senate’s overnight vote-a-rama, where members propose amendments to reconciliation bills, members couldn’t agree on capping prices on the life-saving insulin. The Senate voted 57-43 to cap insulin prices at $35 on the private marketplace—a simple majority, but still three votes shy of the 60 needed to pass the amendment. The Inflation Reduction Act introduced a cap for both Medicare and private insurance recipients, but the Senate parliamentarian ruled that part of the measure violated Senate rules. That gave Republicans an opportunity to stymie the private insurance proposal, though they left the Medicare element intact. “Republicans have just gone on the record in favor of expensive insulin,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) told The Washington Post. “After years of tough talk about taking on insulin makers, Republicans have once against wilted in the face of heat from Big Pharma.”