Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Lowell) is our Socialist Congresswoman, “proudly” elected to serve the citizens of Massachusetts. 

By Allen Nitschelm

Rep. Lori Trahan (D-Lowell) is our Socialist Congresswoman, “proudly” elected to serve the citizens of Massachusetts. 

Democrats didn’t used to embrace Socialism, but all that has changed since the presidency of Barack Obama. He claimed not to be a Socialist but he aggressively pursued Socialist policies. Now, a decade later, most Democrats are “proudly” right smack in the middle of Socialist dogma and evidently very proud of it.

In case you missed it, Joe Biden unveiled his push to have a new wealth tax on multi-millionaires and billionaires. This was right out of the Sanders-Warren Socialist playbook and a step Biden promised not to take during his Presidential campaign. He is not just completely corrupted by China, Ukraine, and Russia through his family influence-peddling business, he is also a bald-faced liar and not to be trusted. But I digress.

I am on Trahan’s email list so I get her publicity updates on about a weekly basis. This week, she “proudly” voted to cap the charge for insulin because “over half a million people rely on their lifesaving insulin prescription” in Massachusetts, a dubious claim.

The Internet says that the population of Massachusetts is about 6.9 million people. We have free or subsidized healthcare in this state (“Romneycare”) so anyone who needs to get prescription coverage for insulin has a path forward. So I seriously doubt this problem is as dire as Trahan purports.

When the government gets involved to solve private-sector problems, the situation can get much worse. Insulin is probably a good example. We now have statewide free health insurance for the poor, so most of the cost of insulin is probably being paid for by the state, private insurance plans, or Medicare. So is Trahan truly trying to help her constituents, or is she trying to save money for more socialist spending on the federal or state level?

She claims that “insulin prescriptions” can cost patients from $100 to $1,600 a month, thereby justifying her political intervention. But she doesn’t say what someone on Mass health pays for insulin. This is important, because those are the patients least likely to be able to afford their medication. My guess is that their cost is much closer to $100 per month than $1,600. Here’s what a general health-care article estimated the out-of-pocket cost would be:

“Still, having insurance doesn’t mean insulin is affordable. Insured patients will often pay a copay or a percentage, rather than the list price, for their insulin. Redmond says that cost could range from $30 to $50.” (Those with high annual deductibles will pay more until that deductible is satisfied.)

Trahan also seems to be overstating the number of people this affects. She says that over 500,000 people are affected, but this is the approximate number of diabetics in the state. Most diabetics do not take insulin; they can control their disease through diet and other medication. The same Internet reference above estimated that only about one in five diabetics takes insulin.

But my biggest problem is her attempt to intervene in the private sector. I bet prices are skyrocketing because states have deep pockets and most states and the federal government are paying most of the costs. If we truly had a free market, other drug companies would get in on the lucrative insulin market if there is some windfall to be made. Government’s role should be to remove any artificial impediments on the number of companies that make this product in order to increase competition, not cap prices.

The article cited above explains why there are only three major drug companies that make insulin, and the reason is…wait for it…because of the US government:

“Many brand name drugs have a generic that becomes the preferred, cheaper alternative. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has historically treated insulin as a drug and a biologic, which have different regulatory pathways.

“Medications that are treated as highly similar to a biologic, or a medication made from living things, are called biosimilars, not generics. Biosimilars must go through a specific approval pathway.

“The original brand name insulins went through the drug pathway rather than the biologic pathway. This meant competitors could not introduce a biosimilar insulin.”

By her attempt to intervene, Trahan exposes one of the many flaws of Socialism. She is picking “winners” and “losers” which is inherently biased. Why doesn’t her bill address the sky-high cost of gasoline, which affects everyone, not just diabetics? Why isn’t she trying to cap gas prices at $1 per gallon? Or why not cap meat prices at $2 per pound? Cars have greatly risen in price affecting many Americans. Why not set a new car price at $1,000? Price caps are a tool for Socialist states which slowly bleed their economy dry and destroy the free market until they run out of other people’s money. (See Venezuela.)

Simply put, what gives Congress the right to intervene in the private-sector economy, and how is this intervention fair to the companies involved, or to the rest of society who isn’t “helped” by the government?

In Socialism, the government has no problem intervening because they believe that everything is, in effect, owned by the government. Socialist leaders can then punish their enemies or reward their friends (or often, themselves) through their intervention, all in the name of helping others. It is a scam and I call foul.

Here is the email in its entirety from the Congresswoman:

Dear Friend, Across the Commonwealth, over half a million people rely on their lifesaving insulin prescription — but being forced to pay anywhere from $100 to $1,600 a month for it simply isn’t doable for many families.  Far too many diabetics are being forced to ration their insulin doses, and some are even skipping them altogether because they can’t afford it. That means hardworking folks are risking their lives each day because big pharmaceutical companies are putting profits first. In the wealthiest country in the world, that’s unacceptable. That’s why today, I proudly voted to pass the Affordable Insulin Now Act, legislation that will cap the cost of insulin at $35 a month and reduce the cost of this lifesaving medicine even more for most folks. Earlier this afternoon, I called on my colleagues to do the right thing and support this critical legislation: (video link) With this vote, we took action to lower costs for families and ensure folks have access to the critical prescriptions they need — both of which remain top priorities as I work to deliver for you and every person that calls our district home.

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