Working Nevadans, Democrats agree on need for affordable health care

Today, roughly 600,000 Nevadans enrolled in Medicare pay no more than $35 a month for their insulin thanks to the work of congressional Democrats who got the Inflation Reduction Act to President Joe Biden’s desk. That’s a lifesaving change for many seniors, including the 90,000 in my district, my own mother among them.

I know what it’s like to get a call from a parent asking for money to help cover their medication. It is a call no child wants to receive. The fight for affordable medication isn’t over, and I’m committed to putting Nevadans’ health over pharmaceutical companies’ profits. It’s what I’ve done throughout my career.

When I introduced the Lower Drug Costs Now Act in 2019, I drew guidance and inspiration from our state’s diabetes drug transparency law. At the time, this bill was still being considered by the Legislature, but I understood its potential to ensure Nevadans could pay for lifesaving medication. The measure contained cost-cutting pieces and was the first law in the nation to require companies to report insulin prices. Today, many pieces of the legislation are law, and people all over Nevada are saving money on their medications.

Both policies became law because people who were making the impossible choices of paying rent or paying for their prescriptions spoke up and demanded an end to pharmaceutical company greed. Organizations like the Culinary Union, and countless other advocacy groups brought patients to events across my district and even brought them to the U.S. Capitol. And it didn’t stop there. People stopped me when I was leaving church, at events, and even when I was just walking down the sidewalk. I cannot and will not forget the stories I heard from brave patients across my district.

Today, political mailers imply that unions and their members, including the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, are on the side of the pharmaceutical industry and not patients. This kind of departure from the truth is outright dangerous. For decades, Culinary and its members have been at the forefront of fighting for a stronger health care system and lower drug costs. At a time when the pharmaceutical industry brings in extraordinary profits and Nevadans routinely pay more than three times what people in other countries pay for the same medicines, Democrats should be joining forces with groups like Culinary to win the fight for lower drug costs, not demonizing its accomplishments and its members.

Until every Nevadan can afford the medicine they need to stay alive, I’ll be fighting for affordability and access. I’ll need brave patients to tell their stories and organizations like Culinary and others join me in the arena.

Lowering prescription drug costs and ensuring affordable health care are central tenets of Democratic values, and we cannot afford to blur the facts about them. At a time when there’s so much misinformation in elections, it’s important for all candidates, regardless of party, to avoid spreading lies that mislead voters. The union workers who advocate for lower prescription costs and more affordable access to health care deserve our respect and should never be compared to the likes of Donald Trump and other MAGA Republicans who don’t share our values.

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., serves the state’s 4th Congressional District, which covers portions of northern Clark County as well as several rural counties.