Tony Branco retired as municipal manager in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. He volunteered as an EMT for 24 years and frequently witnessed how rationing medicine, not getting the doses needed and sharing supplies could result in devastating health emergencies. 

As a diabetic with a hybrid condition that requires him to take higher than normal insulin doses, Tony worries about his own ability to afford insulin especially given the massive increases in cost over the last decade. But now, thanks to the historic reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act, Tony’s insulin costs are capped at $35 a month. Before the new law, he paid more than twice that amount and typically ended up in the “donut hole” coverage gap.  

The new $35/month cap on insulin costs will help millions of diabetics in Medicare, but Tony still worries about the millions more who don’t yet qualify for Medicare and can’t afford their medicines. Congress has a lot more work to do to make prescriptions affordable for everyone and to make healthcare–including dental, vision, and hearing coverage–affordable for seniors like himself and his wife.