Diabetes Awareness Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, each November, Americans commemorate Diabetes Awareness Month. This distinction comes after hundreds of medical advancements, thousands of tears, and millions of lives lost. Diabetes spares no one in its mission to disrupt lives. It feeds off our children as Type 1 diabetes and preys on adults and seniors as Type 2 diabetes, leaving one in ten Americans to contend with this condition.

Black Americans are 60 percent more likely to suffer this illness and its devastating complications, including heart, kidney, liver, eye, and neurological diseases. Healthcare accessibility, genetics, and food insecurity are strong determinants of health outcomes, and diabetes is no different. A community unable to access healthy food or preventative health care is severely disadvantaged.

All Americans with diabetes know the financial strain this disease brings. One dollar out of every $4 in US healthcare costs goes towards diabetes care, leaving the average American with diabetes incurring $12,022 in annual medical expenditures. Thankfully, Congressional Democrats recognize this crisis and passed the Inflation Reduction Act last year. The IRA took unprecedented steps to lower prescription drug costs and capped insulin prices at $35 for seniors on Medicare. Now, millions of Americans can rest easy knowing they have reliable access to their lifesaving medication.

We all live within one degree of separation from this illness. My grandmother had it, a member of my staff has it, and this year 38,000 Missourians will receive a diabetes diagnosis. While Diabetes Awareness Month educates millions across the globe, we must take further action and cure this disease. I'm proud of the work President Biden and House Democrats continue taking to bring this reality closer.

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