Gov. Gretchen Whitmer delivered her second second straight State of the State speech virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, calling to lower taxes and add mental health providers in the state.

Beyond those key issues, Whitmer touched on the importance of lowering the cost of insulin, asking that that legislators give final approval to House-passed legislation that would cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $50 a month.

This bill was first introduced in the state House last February by state Rep. Sara Cambensy, D-Marquette, and was passed in late March.

“I was proud to see my insulin price capping bill pass with a wide vote margin on the House floor today,” Cambensy said of the bill’s passage in March. “This bill will help those on state-sponsored health care plans to afford this life-saving medication without having to ration or go without. If passed by the Senate and signed into law, Michigan will become the 16th state to send a clear message to Congress that the next step is to cap the cost of insulin per month on all remaining health care plans.”

We join Whitmer in urging the state Legislature to give final approval to this bill, as it is quite literally a matter of life or death to many state residents who have diabetes, as nearly 3,000 people die from diabetes-related complications in Michigan every year, Cambensy’s office reported previously, saying this bill “could help save lives by keeping the price of insulin within reach.”

In Michigan alone, the American Diabetes Association estimates that 865,000 people, or 11.2% of the adult population, have diabetes. Furthermore, those with diabetes have medical expenses around 2.3 times higher than those who do not.

Prices range from $75 to $2,000 monthly depending on individual requirements and insurance coverage, The Associated Press reported in a Wednesday article about Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel seeking court approval to investigate Eli Lilly and Co., which she has accused of “charging excessive prices” for insulin medications used to treat diabetes.

“The people of Michigan and all over the United States are tired of paying high prices for prescription drugs,” Cambensy said of the bill passing the House in March. “They want transparency, fair pricing and better access to health care services. My bill is one bill in a large bipartisan package of many today that will help bring that relief.”

There are no shortage of critical issues that Whitmer mentioned in her annual address, and while lowering the cost of insulin may seem on its surface less significant than taxation, mental health or or infrastructure, it needs to be a fundamental priority of our state Legislature — and other legislative bodies around the nation — moving forward, as it’s quite literally a matter of life or death for the millons of Americans who have diabetes.

We urge our elected officials in Lansing to pass this life-saving legislation as soon as they can, and we urge our readers to advocate for them to do so. It can, and will, make a difference in the lives of nearly 1 million people — and their loved ones — in Michigan.

— The (Marquette) Mining Journal