Miller-Meeks took money from insulin maker, then voted against insulin caps

For years, Miller-Meeks took thousands from pharmaceutical companies, and she received $1,000 from an insulin manufacturer on the day she voted against a bill to cap insulin prices.

Before voting against a bill that would cap insulin costs and allow the government to negotiate Medicare drug costs, Republican Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks, who represents Iowa’s First Congressional District in southeast Iowa, took thousands from an insulin manufacturer and other pharmaceutical companies.

Records from the Federal Election Commission show Miller-Meeks received $1,000 from Eli Lilly and Company PAC on Aug. 12, 2022, the day the Inflation Reduction Act was voted on in the US House of Representatives.

Despite her vote, the Inflation Reduction Act passed the House and was signed into law on Aug. 16, 2022. None of Iowa’s four Republican congresspeople voted for it.

Further records obtained through Open Secrets shows Miller-Meeks has received a total of $196,812 from pharmaceutical and health product lobbyists since she was elected in 2020.

From 2021-2022, she received $34,537. From 2023-2024, she’s received $159,332, the most of any Iowa congressperson.

A major part of the Inflation Reduction Act is its requirement that Medicare be allowed to negotiate drug prices with drug companies. Those negotiations will start in 2026 with 10 drugs, and that number will gradually increase until 2029.

The number of people affected at first will depend on which drugs are chosen, but another major piece of the bill requires drug companies to cap seniors’ prices at $2,000 per year. If drug prices increase faster than the inflation rate, the company has to pay a refund.

Miller-Meeks has attacked the idea of negotiating drug prices and has also called for big parts of the Inflation Reduction Act to be cut.

For years, Miller-Meeks has said the government negotiating drug prices would interfere with what medicines doctors can prescribe and harm the ability for the pharmaceutical industry to develop new drugs.

However, studies have shown the price of drugs doesn’t correlate with the amount of investment in research and development. In fact, pharmaceutical companies use more of their budgets for advertising and stock buybacks than they do for the research and development of new drugs. As a result, the overall impact is mixed.

Miller-Meeks is running for re-election this November against Democrat Christina Bohannan, who has criticized Miller-Meeks for those donations and her vote against the law.

https://x.com/BohannanIowa/status/1704520675866673184