Providing Emergency Insulin, Ceremonial Bill Signings

At the close of the 2019 legislative special session, there was a collective sigh of relief that lawmakers and the Governor managed to pass the state’s new two-year budget. In the midst of that accomplishment, a plan to provide emergency insulin to those who cannot afford it failed to make it through. Senator Scott Jensen, R-Chaska, joins Capitol Report moderator Shannon Loehrke to talk about possible next steps for diabetics struggling to pay for insulin.

Last winter, Senator Matt Little, DFL-Lakeville, organized a roundtable discussion on the skyrocketing cost of insulin. The panel heard testimony from people whose lives have been impacted by the high prices, including Nicole Smith-Holt. Smith-Holt's son Alec died last year after attempting to ration his insulin supply until his next payday. Senator Melissa Wiklund, DFL-Bloomington, joins Shannon to talk about the Alec Smith Emergency Insulin Act, a bill that would create a fund through a tax on insulin makers in order to provide emergency insulin to diabetics struggling to afford it.

This week, Governor Walz held a series of ceremonial signings for a number of bills passed during the 2019 legislative session. The new laws ban certain flame retardant chemicals from being used, provide funds to students left hanging by the sudden closure of Argosy University, create a licensing structure to regulate Pharmacy Benefit Managers and establish a Rare Disease Advisory Council.