How Minnesota Figures Into the Presidential Politics of Insulin Prices
Politics tamfitronics Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz attends a rally in Asheville, North Carolina, on Sept. 17. Minnesota led the way on insulin affordability, culminating in 2020 with Walz's signing of a law to cut costs. (Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)In June 2019, Lija Greenseid handed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz an empty vial of insulin that her 13-year-old daughter had painted gold.Greenseid’s daughter has Type 1 diabetes, which means she requires daily injections of manufactured insulin to stay alive. The price of a single vial of insulin rose by about 1,200% between 1996 and 2018, and the gold vial was a reminder, Greenseid said, that this lifesaving pharmaceutical shouldn’t be as expensive as precious metal.“What I heard is that that gold vial remained on his desk at the governor’s office, and he brought it up throughout...
