LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) -- The Inflation Reduction Act recently approved in the U.S. Senate calls for lowering some health care and prescription costs, but some say the bill is leaving behind a group of people who need help.
The piece of legislation that didn't pass in that 57-43 vote is capping insulin costs at $35, which has people like Lancaster parent Chad Baker not only worried about the financial impact but also the health impact.
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Baker has two children ages 13 and 16 who both have type 1 diabetes. He says the loss of the insulin cap was not surprising but upsetting.
His children were both diagnosed before the age of 3 and have had to use insulin all their lives. Baker has health insurance to cover most of the cost, but he says if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to pay, and that would risk the lives of his kids.
Baker says many people in the U.S. are already facing this impossible choice.
"One of the things that my wife and I both have commented on is we see what those costs are that are being covered, and we've seen that -- my daughter was diagnosed in 2007 and we're talking 15 years later -- it has been a significant increase. We're talking not just 10s of dollars per year, we're talking hundreds if not close to thousands of dollars per year," Baker said.
One of the Republicans that struck down the insulin cap was Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Pat Toomey.
The bill did allow Medicare to negotiate some prescription drug prices and set a $2,000 annual cap on drug costs for seniors.
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