South Korean pharmaceutical company UNDBIO is set to build an insulin manufacturing facility in Morgantown.
South Korean pharmaceutical company UNDBIO is set to build an insulin manufacturing facility in Morgantown.
The plant will manufacture insulin shots that those with diabetes would inject once a week to control their blood glucose levels, as opposed to multiple times a day.
UNDBIO Chairman Caleb Jun said during the announcement of the deal’s completion Wednesday morning that bringing a plant to West Virginia is part of his personal goal to make his company global.
“The products of UNDBIO will both save human life and improve the quality of life of those afflicted with diabetes,” Jun said. “And if all goes according to plan, UNDBIO will become one of the top global pharmaceutical companies while bringing price-competitive insulin to the U.S. market.”
The company estimates the facility will add 200 manufacturing jobs to the region during the project’s first three-year phase. That number is expected to grow to 600 after the company secures FDA approval for the insulin product, according to West Virginia Secretary of Commerce Mitch Carmichael.
Gov. Jim Justice contrasted it to the closure of the area’s Mylan plant in 2020.
“[After] the blow that we took with the closure of an incredibly large plant, with a lot, a lot, a lot of folks, this absolutely is tremendous news for that area and for our state,” Justice said.
West Virginia University will work with UNDBIO on research and development, clinical trials and post-market studies, with the company also sponsoring research and internships for students and faculty.
The facility is being built on land leased by WVU. Construction is expected to begin this fall.
After a late night lawmaking session Friday, the Senate was quick to action Saturday morning, the final day of the 2023 Regular Legislative Session. With so many bills surrounding the health of West Virginia being passed from chamber to chamber, and committee to committee, there are a lot of loose ends to tie up.
SB 187 – Sexual contact between students and teachers
The Senate refused to concur on the House of Delegates’ amendments to a bill to ban sexual contact from school staff regardless of age.
Senate Bill 187 would make it a felony offense for a school employee or volunteer to engage in sexual contact with students.
On Saturday, the Senate refused to concur with the House’s amendments to Senate Bill 187.
“The Senate version of this bill prohibits primary and secondary school employees from being sexually intimate with students regardless of age,” Sen. Tom Takubo, R-Kanawha, said. “The House version eliminates elementary schools, adds colleges and caps the student age at 20. I urge the House to recede.”
The bill now returns to the House of Delegates.
SB 559 – Relating to Spousal Privilege
A measure of protection for children that has been shuffled throughout legislation this session is Senate Bill 559.
As originally presented, the bill expanded the exceptions to spousal privilege of not being compelled to testify against a spouse to exclude cases in which the offense at issue was committed against any child rather than a child of one or both spouses.
The Senate rejected the House’s amendments and proposed their own.
“The House amended to add a number of new exceptions to spousal privilege,” Takubo, R-Kanawha, said. “The proposed Senate amendment limits the exception of spousal privilege in instances where a spouse commits an offense against a minor.”
The amendment adopted by the Senate with 33 yeas, 0 nays. The bill now goes to the House for their concurrence.
Senate Bill 577 aims to reduce the co-pay cap on insulin and related treatment devices and permit the purchase of testing equipment without a prescription.
On the last day of the 2023 session, the Senate accepted the bill’s House amendments and passed the bill.
“To limit cost sharing to 35 per 30 day supplies of insulin,” said Takubo. The amendment changes the effective date and makes technical changes.
The bill passed both chambers and will take effect Jan. 1, 2024.
SB 273 – Reallocating CPS workers by population
After passing technical amendments, the Senate passed Senate Bill 273, to allocate child protective service workers in counties according to the average caseload per county and the county population based on the 2020 Census.
The bill now goes to the House for their concurrence.
On this episode of The Legislature Today, we have our weekly reporter roundtable to recap the week and explore what’s still to come. WVPB’s Chris Schulz and Emily Rice sit down with Brad McElhinny of WV MetroNews.
On this episode of The Legislature Today, we have our weekly reporter roundtable to recap the week and explore what’s still to come. WVPB’s Chris Schulz and Emily Rice sit down with Brad McElhinny of WV MetroNews.
Also, the Senate’s PEIA bill is now in the hands of the House of Delegates. The proposed health insurance premium increases and coverage reductions to shore up the financially challenged program has many up in arms. The bill defenders say proposed pay raises and tax cuts will even things out.
The Senate completed legislative action on some 20 bills, including six supplementary appropriations.
In the House, a bill to reduce how much West Virginians pay for insulin passed and was sent back to the Senate for their consideration. Emily Rice has more.
The Senate Health and Human Resources Committee had a lengthy debate Thursday on House Bill 2007. The bill would restrict gender-affirming health care for transgender minors. As Curtis Tate reports, the committee approved the bill but not entirely along party lines.
Finally, innovation met education on Career Technical Education Day at the West Virginia Legislature. From offering baked goods to analyzing biometrics, West Virginia students put on a 2023 vocational show.
Having trouble viewing the video below? Click here to watch it on YouTube.
The Legislature Today is West Virginia’s only television/radio simulcast devoted to covering the state’s 60-day regular legislative session.
Watch or listen to new episodes Monday through Friday at 6 p.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
The West Virginia Legislature once again took up the issue of insulin costs with legislation passing the House to cap insulin co-pays for patients at $35 for a 30-day supply.
The West Virginia Legislature once again took up the issue of insulin costs with legislation passing the House to cap insulin co-pays for patients at $35 for a 30-day supply.
House Health Committee Chair Del. Amy Summers, R-Taylor, said the bill addresses the high cost of treating diabetes in the state, which has a high rate of the disease.
“This bill addresses insulin because we have a very high diabetic population in West Virginia that is costing a lot of money to treat those people,” Summers said. “So we want to be able to allow them to get the medicine they need at a reasonable price and keep their disease process under control.”
Senate Bill 577 aims to reduce the co-pay cap on insulin and devices and permit the purchase of testing equipment without a prescription. It faced debate on the House floor from legislators arguing for a free market, though drug maker Eli Lilly voluntarily capped the insulin it makes at $35. The federal Inflation Reduction Act last year capped insulin at $35 for Medicare recipients.
Among over 20 delegates who rose to speak to the bill, was Del. Laura Kimble, R-Harrison, who questioned Summers about including other life-saving medications in the bill.
“The reason for me voting red on this bill was quite simple. All we’re doing is cost-shifting for private insurance companies. Private insurance, we’ll see a cap. It’s true, they’ll go from $100 to $35. But someone else will be paying the difference,” Kimble said. “That will be shifted, there will be people, there will be a butterfly effect for some and there will be a Tyrannosaurus Rex effect for others. Whether through increases in premiums, medicines, employers, for employers or employees, someone will be asked to pay more. Nothing comes without a price.”
The debate continued with Democratic colleagues, Dels. Shawn Fluharty, D-Ohio, and Ric Griffith, D-Wayne both rising to speak in passionate support of Senate Bill 577.
“Imagine being from West Virginia, and arguing that big pharma needs more money,” Fluharty said. “What are we doing? I can’t believe people are standing up on this House floor and arguing that big pharma needs more money.”
“Every day across our state. People who need medications make very tough decisions,” Griffith said. “We often hear the comparison of do I buy food? Or do I buy my medicine? Well, one of the things I think you need to realize is the insurance companies and the pharmacies across this country are doing very well. Very well. Indeed.”
Del. Adam Vance, R-Wyoming, asked some questions on the House floor and then spoke in support of Senate Bill 577 calling it a win for West Virginians.
“I know what everybody’s wanting to do, and I get it from both sides and all that. But to me, this is just a win. I mean, if they can raise the premiums without capping it, your money is gonna go up anyway – people will go off of it anyway. But if we can help out somebody, and I know, we want to help everybody, and maybe we can work on that later. But if we can help out somebody now, and if the premiums go up, they go up, but they can go up even without doing,” Vance said. “And I hate to speak against some of my friends and colleagues. But I’m going to support this bill just for the simple fact that there’s no guarantee that the rates don’t rise without doing it. So if we can help out one group doing it, we might as well do it.”
Before a vote was called, Summers said it’s time that lawmakers consider what’s best for the people of the state and help them as they need.
“I’ve listened to all the debate here today. And I understand this is a policy decision. I used to be a purist as well, where no price controls, that’s not the Republican thing to do. That’s not the capitalist thing to do,” Summers said. “But over the years, I’ve softened a bit as I’ve thought through how do these government policies, how do these companies, these drug companies, these insurance companies, how do they impact the citizens in my district, the citizens in West Virginia, drug companies and insurance companies I feel may be taking advantage of our people.”
Senate Bill 577 passed the House of Delegates with 85 yes votes, 12 no votes and 3 not voting or absent. It now returns to the Senate to review its House amendments.
The Senate passed five bills Thursday related to elections in the state, as well as issues around diabetes.
The West Virginia Senate passed three bills Thursday related to elections in the state.
All three bills originated from the Secretary of State’s office as technical cleanups.
Senate Bill 620 makes just four changes to state code that would increase the maximum number of registered voters per precinct, as well as the distance between polling places.
Sen. Charles Trump, R-Morgan, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the bill’s lead sponsor, said the bill increases the maximum number of voters in an urban precinct from 1,500 to 2,500, and allows for greater consolidation of precincts.
“There’s also authority under this bill for counties, county governments, county commissions to consolidate precincts. But there are limitations on the geographical distance,” Trump said. “The consolidated precinct cannot contain more than 5,000 total – that’s up from 3,000 registered voters – and under existing law, there’s a one mile radius limit. This would expand that to five miles. It’s all permissive. It would be up to the county commissions to decide whether or not to do that when they exercise the statutory authority of drawing and configuring the voting precincts in their respective counties.”
During discussion of the bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Feb. 17, Sen. Mike Caputo, D-Marion, expressed concern that the consolidation of polling places the bill allows would create undue burdens on voters.
“I think it’s our job to make voting easier for our constituents, not to add what I think could be a cumbersome task,” he said. “I get that you’ll move the machines to one precinct, if you consolidate. I still think there could be bottlenecks at check-in. It would appear that we are doing things to make it more difficult for the voter.”
The bill ultimately passed on a vote of 27 to 7. All three Democratic senators were joined by Republican senators Jason Barrett of Berkeley, Laura Chapman of Ohio, Patrick Martin of Lewis and Ben Queen of Harrison in voting against the bill.
The Senate also passed Senate Bill 631, which would facilitate the state’s use of federal money from the Help America Vote Act in federal elections. Also known as HAVA, Trump said the bill was passed by Congress after the 2000 presidential election to help facilitate vote counting in states.
“As the technology of voting machines has become more advanced, they become more expensive. And so in West Virginia, the voting machines that are used by the 55 counties are purchased with combinations of county monies and federal monies,” he said. “This will allow the secretary of state to utilize federal monies that come into the secretary of state’s possession for that purpose.”
Senate Bill 631 also extends the deadline for when county clerks can accept voter registrations on the final day of registration by a few hours, from close of business to midnight.
Senate Bill 644, which aims to clarify the procedure for contested elections, also passed.
“In short, what this bill does is it moves to the courts the place where election contests occur,” Trump said. “If there’s an election contest from a municipal election, the current law is that it’s decided first by the mayor and council. Contests of elections involving the county and district contests, current law is that they’re decided in the county court. This moves all that to circuit court.”
All three bills now go to the House of Delegates for consideration.
Support For Diabetics
The Senate also took up two bills to address issues around diabetes in the state.
Senate Bill 195 would allow a licensed healthcare provider to prescribe ready to use glucagon rescue therapy in a school, or in a school district’s name, to treat severe hypoglycemic episodes.
The bill also sets forth procedures for administering glucagon, including the requirement that a school nurse approve its administration, and authorizes school personnel to receive training on assisting students in diabetes care and how to identify and react to a student experiencing a diabetes related emergency.
Senate Bill 577 would limit the cost sharing for a covered prescription of insulin to a total of $35 for a 30-day supply, and $100 for a 30-day supply for covered diabetic devices.
Senate Health and Human Resources Chair Sen. Mike Maroney, R-Marshall, said the bill would apply to West Virginians that currently have private health insurance.
“Our bill applies to private insurance, the 20 percent of West Virginians that have commercial insurance, roughly. That’s what this bill applies to,” Maroney said. “Medicare already has it. PEIA has similar ranges. I can’t answer Medicaid.”
The Inflation Reduction Act capped the cost of insulin at $35 per month for Medicare beneficiaries starting in 2023.
Maroney said a similar bill passed the Senate last year but failed to complete legislative action.
Both bills passed and now head to the House of Delegates for consideration.
This story was originally published by Mountain State Spotlight. For more stories from Mountain State Spotlight, visit www.mountainstatespotlight.org.
When Maggie Reider’s first-grade son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2008, her first thought was “is this a death sentence?”
“My only knowledge [of the disease] was what happened in ‘Steel Magnolias,’” said Reider, referring to the movie that features a diabetic Julia Roberts who dies from kidney failure not long after giving birth to her first child. “I worried things weren’t going to end well.”
Courtesy, Roxy Vasil
/
Roxy Vasil and Maggie Reider.
Then, Reider became more familiar with the disease, which occurs when a person’s body doesn’t produce insulin. It can cause serious organ damage if left untreated, but the Morgantown native learned that with proper management, her son could live a healthy life.
But that management would come with a hefty price tag.
The cost of treating diabetes has made local and national headlines over the past few years, as the price of insulin — used by diabetics to regulate blood sugar — has surged and insurance coverage hasn’t kept up. According to the Health Care Cost Institute, the cost of routine care for a person with Type 1 diabetes was around $18,000 a year in 2016. Prices have gone up since then.
In West Virginia, a state with both the highest diabetes mortality rate in the country and one of the highest percentages of residents living below the poverty line, medicine and equipment required to best treat the disease is inaccessible for many.
Lawmakers are once again considering a bill to lower the expenses for essential diabetic equipment. The bill — introduced with bipartisan support in the House of Delegates — has yet to be assigned to a committee agenda, which is typically the first sign it has a chance of passage.
Technology upgrades
Diabetes management used to just involve finger pricks and test-strips to check blood sugar throughout the day. But as technology has advanced, it’s evolved into sensors, pumps and monitors, which automate the process and provide a more consistent and accurate reading in real time. Studies have shown that these newer methods improve health outcomes, but the equipment is expensive and only available to those who can afford it.
“When we were on simple syringes with insulin vials, it was pricey. But as my son grew older and the technology got better, things became really expensive,” Reider said. “It all adds up. But it’s life-saving, so you make it work.”
For Reider’s family, “making it work” meant picking up a second job.
A widow and single mother when her son was diagnosed, Reider said her schoolteacher salary wasn’t enough to cover the costs of treatment. So, she took a job as a waitress on the side.
When her son, Roxy Vasil, turned 16, he got a job at a funeral home. The money he earned helped pay for sensors for his continuous glucose monitor, which he wears on his arm. It provides continuous monitoring and automatically notifies him when he needs insulin. Before, it was a guessing game — he’d draw blood from his finger periodically throughout the day.
Last year, the West Virginia Legislature passed a bill that capped the copays for insulin at $100 for a 30-day supply in response to the rising cost. Lawmakers who supported the legislation say it was a good first step, but insulin is just one of the many tools needed to manage diabetes.
Now, a house bill with bipartisan sponsorship seeks to go a step further. Sponsored by Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, and co-sponsored by Del. Barbara Fleischauer, D-Monongalia, House Bill 2708 would lower the $100 insulin cap to $25, and in addition to insulin, would apply the same cap to pharmaceutical supplies and equipment, too. rfthy
Courtesy, Roxy Vasil
/
Roxy Vasil uses a Freestyle Libre 14 Day Sensor to monitor monitor his blood sugar levels and keep healthy. It’s one of the technologies that a new house bill wants to make more affordable for diabetic West Virginians.
Rohrbach, a physician who serves as vice chairman of the House Health and Human Resources Committee, did not return requests for comment. But during a panel discussion in early February, Rohrbach said the bill would improve West Virginia’s health, economy and wellbeing.
“We’ve really advanced [in technology used to treat diabetes],” Rohrbach said. “But unfortunately, a lot of people don’t have access because of costs.”
And when preventive treatment is inaccessible, more people get sick and die.
“The long-term consequences of diabetes — the organ damage, the heart attacks, the strokes — we can prevent with better diabetic control,” Rohrbach said.
Those consequences are disproportionately borne by Black West Virginians. According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death for the state’s Black residents. Nationally, non-Hispanic Black people were twice as likely to die from diabetes as non-Hispanic white people, according to data from 2018.
“What this bill is really an attempt to do is to make it easier for individuals to get access to these lifesaving medications and technologies and limit the effects down the road,” Rohrbach said.
The bill hasn’t been placed on the agenda of the House Health and Human Resources Committee, which means that no testimony for or against the legislation has been heard. But last year, private insurance companies and the state Office of the Insurance Commissioner opposed the bill. They expressed concerns that the capped co-pays would impact the market. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner did not respond to questions about whether there’s been an impact on the market from last year’s legislation.
Fleischauer says similar legislation has already been passed in other states. She said HB 2708 is modeled after legislation passed in Connecticut last year.
“Connecticut has one of the lowest mortality rates for diabetes in the country, and they passed this legislation,” Fleischauer said. “If they can take this step to save lives, we can, too.”
Reider and Vasil both said the legislation would make a huge difference for families like theirs.
“Diabetes doesn’t discriminate. It impacts Democrats and Republicans alike, so I hope lawmakers can come together and pass this for West Virginians,” Reider said.
Vasil, who’s now a freshman in college, said having access to the higher-tech equipment has changed how he’s able to manage the disease.
“I’ve lost weight, my [sugar levels] have improved, and I’m more motivated to keep healthy because of my CGM,” Vasil said. “I think every diabetic should be able to access one.”
The deadline for the bill to pass the House of Delegates — and head to the Senate — is March 31.
Reach reporter Lauren Peace at laurenpeace@mountainstatespotlight.org
