To The Editor:

In Connecticut alone, approximately 250,000 of adults have diagnosed diabetes, types 1 and 2. An additional 83,000 adults are estimated to have undiagnosed diabetes. For these people, Insulin is a necessity, just as food and water is for the rest of us. In recent years, pharmaceutical companies have increased up the prices of Insulin significantly, nearring a rate of unaffordability for some.

At the upcoming special session of the Connecticut General Assembly, a bill will be voted on, capping the price of insulin in Connecticut. Insulin is not something that should carry a financial burden for those in need. Continuing to allow pharmaceutical companies to raise the price of Insulin deprives people of their basic needs. 

Insulin is more expensive than ever, type 1 diabetes patients – who generally must inject themselves every day — paid an average of $5,705 for insulin in 2016, nearly double what they paid four years earlier. This bill would cap the price of Insulin and its supplies at $100 per month.

It is of utmost importance that we take measures and prevent the prices of Insulin from skyrocketing further. Supporting this bill would ensure that Insulin is not only affordable, but accessible to all of those in need of it.

Thank you.

Daphne Baker
Westport

To the Editor:

In the upcoming week, our Connecticut senators and representatives will gather for a special session to discuss four important bills. One of these bills would allow the state to use federal funds to purchase absentee ballot boxes for every town hall in the state and mail out absentee voter applications to every registered voter for the upcoming November election.

This bill is critical to ensuring that every citizen is able to vote in a safe way. The current policy allows citizens to mail in their vote if they are not in the state at the time of the election, or if religious obligations or illness prevent them from voting on Election Day.

However, this current policy does not include those who will remain at home due to COVID-19. The bill would account for these people who feel unsafe leaving their homes at this time, especially those who are compromised.

This bill will protect our citizens’ right to vote, while also limiting the spread of COVID-19 by eliminating long lines at the polls and unnecessary contact with others. I encourage you to support this bill and urge your legislators to vote for it as well.

Layla Wofsy,
Westport

To the Editor:

Next week, the Connecticut General Assembly will be conducting a special session to pass several important bills, notably those regarding healthcare issues such as expanding telehealth and capping insulin prices.

During the pandemic, it is both more important and more risky than ever to have access to medical care. Those who need doctor visits the most, like the elderly, may have the most to lose by visiting a doctor’s office in person.

Those in rural areas may have trouble easily accessing a doctor at all. Our legislature needs to expand access to telehealth, or online doctor consultations, for this reason. It would allow high-risk as well as rural individuals to receive the healthcare they need without putting themselves and others at risk.

The other healthcare-related bill in question, an insulin price cap, is also desperately needed. The United States’ insulin costs are astronomical––averaging $360 a month compared to $112 in India, the next most expensive country, and nothing at all in many European countries.

The bill, if passed, would limit the cost of insulin and other diabetes supplies to $100 a month. If our legislature passes this bill, it would make Connecticut the most affordable state for insulin in America, and would unburden the hundreds of thousands of diabetics paying hundreds of dollars a month just to live.

Kylie Race
Westport