Rep. Wild Invites PA-07 Patient As Guest to State of the Union
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Representative Susan Wild (PA-07) announced that Allentown resident Yamelisa Taveras will join her at the State of the Union in Washington, DC on February 4, 2020. Taveras is a recognized community activist and diabetes patient, who has had to ration her insulin due to high costs. Taveras has struggled with diabetes since she was a child. A graduate of Allentown High School, Taveras began rationing her insulin after she was no longer on her parents’ health insurance. Since then, Taveras has founded charitable organizations to provide aid to underserved populations in the Greater Lehigh Valley and has worked to shed light on the health needs of that same community.
Wild invited Taveras to highlight her story and the stories of families and patients across the Greater Lehigh Valley and call on the Administration to stop threatening health care for Americans with pre-existing conditions and support legislation to end price gouging by Big Pharma.
“In the richest country on earth, there shouldn’t be a single person who has to ration their life-saving medications because they are unaffordable,” Wild said. “And the most heartbreaking part of Yamelisa’s story is that it is such a common one. Families in our community, like Yamelisa’s, should never have to decide whether to pay for their prescription drugs or to pay their mortgage or put food on the table. The House passed the Lower Drug Costs Now Act for these families, and it deserves fair consideration – and a vote – in the Senate. If we truly want to end the days of putting profits over people, we need our colleagues on the other side of the aisle and in the Administration to work with us and make good on their promise to take this issue seriously.”
“As constituents, we should able to trust that our representatives in Washington are willing to put their ears to the ground and serve the needs of the people, as well as work to make sure those same people can afford and access the lifesaving drugs they need to survive,” Taveras said. “I’m looking forward to accompanying Congresswoman Wild to the State of the Union and shedding light on the cost of prescription drugs, which has affected me and so many others in my life.”
Wild has helped to pass multiple bills this Congress to lower drug costs, protect people with pre-existing conditions, and reverse health care sabotage – including the CREATES Act, which was recently signed into law. The CREATES Act will make it easier for generic drugs to come to market, save taxpayer dollars, and help lower prescription drug costs.
Wild has also championed H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, landmark legislation that would give Medicare the power to negotiate directly with drug companies to bring down prices and make those savings available to hardworking families across Pennsylvania’s 7th District and the country.
Throughout her time in Congress, Wild has made lowering the cost of prescription drugs a priority and advanced numerous legislative initiatives vital to this effort. Last November, Wild called attention to the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs in the Greater Lehigh Valley in a House Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Subcommittee hearing. In August, Wild endorsed the Pennsylvania Health Access Network’s principles for lowering the costs of prescription drugs in the Greater Lehigh Valley, shortly after a press conference held by Wild and Protect Our Care, where she heard from constituents and community health care advocates and released a report on the skyrocketing costs of prescription drugs in the Greater Lehigh Valley. In May, Wild led a bipartisan amendment to stop the rising cost of premiums which, with the support of 78 Republicans, passed the House as a part H.R. 986, the Strengthening Health Care and Lowering Prescription Drug Costs Act.
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