Newsom said the state budget he recently signed includes $100 million for California to “contract and do [its] You have insulin at a cheaper price, close to cost and to make it available to everyone.” He said $50 million of that budget would go toward developing the low-cost insulin, while an additional $50 million would go toward a California-based manufacturing facility for the drug, which Newsom claims will “offer new, high jobs and a stronger supply chain.” Newsom also noted in his announcement that he had signed an executive order on his first day in office to put California on the path to creating its own prescription drugs, touting that “it’s happening now.” “Nothing epitomizes market failures more than the cost of insulin,” Newsom said, saying “many Americans face costs ranging from $300 to $500 a month for this lifesaving drug.” The action comes amid a push on Capitol Hill to rein in insulin costs. A bipartisan insulin bill from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (DN.H.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) is expected to be voted on as soon as this month. Collins urged her Republican colleagues to support the bill. But some Republicans have pushed back on the measure with concerns that it would be too expensive or interfere too much with the free market. On Wednesday, Senate Democrats removed a provision in a separate drug pricing bill to cap patients’ insulin costs at $35 a month, a goal that had been a high selling point for Democrats, including President Biden, for the their financial package. The insulin provision is also part of the bipartisan insulin bill from Shaheen and Collins, which will require support from at least 10 Republican senators to clear a filibuster and pass. Instead, the Democrats-only drug pricing measure is part of Biden’s economic package, which uses a process known as reconciliation to bypass a GOP filibuster, meaning it can pass with only 50 Democratic votes.
