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Third Drugmaker To Hold Insulin Prices At $35; Texas Governor Sends Flight Of Migrants To Chicago Area; Tips On How To Keep Your New Year's Resolution. 3:30-4p ET

Aired January 01, 2024 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a third of the total death. Despite the dangerous conditions, Lama courageously continues to report to the world and aspire hope in a new generation.

(inaudible) CNN, London.

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And still ahead, another major drugmaker lowering the cost of insulin. We'll have new details on that.

Plus, do you have your New Year's resolution set? Worried you might break them as early as, I don't know today, did you already break them? OK. We got some days ahead to get back on track. How to stick by your goals, ahead.

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KEILAR: More Americans with diabetes will get a price break on insulin this year. Sanofi will join two other major insulin makers, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, in either capping or lowering insulin costs to 35 bucks per month.

For years, drugmakers have come under fire for drastically raising insulin prices, even though it's actually relatively cheap to produce.

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CNN medical correspondent, Meg Tirrell, is with us now on this. This is going to be very good news for so many people, Meg.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, insulin can cost more than a thousand dollars out of pocket if you don't have insurance coverage or other help.

And so the fact that this is getting capped now at $35 from all three major manufacturers should be a big help to everybody who relies on insulin.

And now there could be sort of complex ways of getting access to this. You may have to go to the drugmaker's website and get a coupon, but this should become available now starting January 1st.

Of course, more than eight million people in the United States rely on insulin to live and about a quarter of those folks, according to the American Diabetes Association, have had to ration their insulin at one point because of its high price.

Now insulin is almost the poster child for drug price increases over time. If you think about the list price of the drug, that's the price before insurance coverage or any rebates paid back into the system.

If you look at this graph, we've got it shows the price increases on the list prices of two of the major insulins over the past few decades. And actually, something else going into effect today is a reduction of 70 percent or more on those list prices as well, which Brianna and some complexities of the drug pricing system in the United States is actually going to end up saving the drugmaker's money.

KEILAR: Yes. Explain that. So this saves the money, which might -- explain why their gain for this.

TIRRELL: Yes, exactly. So it all goes into the way Medicaid gets rebates because of drug companies raising the price of drugs over time.

And so because insulin prices have gone up so much due to a Biden administration change that goes into effect today, those drug companies would actually have to pay Medicaid for insulins.

And so by reducing the list price by 70 percent or even more of these insulins, they're actually estimated to be saving hundreds of millions of dollars per year and avoiding those Medicaid rebates.

And so while it's good that these price increases are stopping and in fact the list prices are coming down and there's that $35 cap, there's so much more going on beyond the surface.

KEILAR: Yes. I guess we know the language that they are speaking, but in the end, this is paying off for consumers and it's so important.

Meg, thank you for that report.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott sending a plane with more than 350 asylum seekers to the Chicago area over the weekend. You see it here.

Up next, we'll speak to a Chicago aldermen about how his community is dealing with the influx.

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KEILAR: Texas Governor Greg Abbott stepping up his effort to send migrants to democratic-led cities. Official say Abbott set more than 350 migrants on a private plane to Rockford, Illinois over the weekend and then chartered buses to drop them off in communities outside of Chicago. Chicago Mayor, Brandon Johnson, says Abbott is creating a crisis.

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BRANDON JOHNSON, MAYOR OF CHICAGO: An international and federal crisis that local governments are being asked to subsidize. And this is unsustainable. This is certainly a matter of not just of our national security, but it's the type of chaos that this governor is committed to administering.

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KEILAR: Let's talk now with Byron Sigcho Lopez, a member of Chicago City Council.

Alderman, you have been part of a push to get more federal involvement in caring for newly arriving asylum seekers. Can you tell us the conditions that these migrants are facing as they arrive in your communities?

BYRON SIGCHO-LOPEZ, CHICAGO ALDERMAN: Well, thank you very much for the opportunity. And it's really dire in communities like ours. We had the recent death of a 5-year-old boy, Giancarlo Martinez (PH) because of the many, many conditions and really poor conditions that are set for the new neighbors in our communities.

We have -- we have to really congregate as many as in one of our shelters 2,500 people in a matter of weeks, because of the lack of support at the federal level and because of these tactics of human trafficking that are putting a risk to the lives of new neighbors and also the safety of Chicagoans across the city.

We've seen these inhumane practices also have caused the life of a 3- year-old girl only months ago in transfers from Texas to Chicago.

We've seen the conditions worsening. Because of the tactics that continue to be worsening, now we see Governor Abbott even sending people by plane, which is putting really our community is not only at risk, but it is really putting our whole communities at the brink of collapse.

So this is really an urgent call for government to take leadership on the matter as we see it. I really desperately attempt to destabilize and harm our communities, immigrant communities that have suffered so much.

KEILAR: Alderman, your mayor, and listen, I think any mayor who is having a number of people shipped in and it is costing local funds, you know, they're going to have an issue with that. That's very clear. At the same time, this is a situation that you were dealing with there in the Chicago area.

Your mayor was asked about whether he'd reached out to Texas Governor Greg Abbott and he didn't really answer the question on that.

Does he need to be in direct communication with the governor? SIGCHO-LOPEZ: I think it's upon the federal government to make sure that municipalities, state government, federal government work together to save lives.

We personally went, and I was part of a delegation to go to the border. We saw a lot of willingness, especially in local government, to collaborate.

When we have a state government, especially Governor Abbott, determined to sabotage this collaboration, defying even international law, even federal mandates. It becomes a titanic task.

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I think that we've done everything we can to show our willingness to collaborate. Unfortunately, that has gone --

KEILAR: What is -- what is the communication like? You know, we've heard from Rock folks in Rockford, they're in touch with Texas emergency management.

You know, what -- you went down on this delegation. What is the communication like between Chicago officials and Texas? Is there any?

SIGCHO-LOPEZ: Unfortunately, we have even seen less and less willingness to collaborate, even cutting all lines of communication, even letting us not even notifications when people were arriving.

Now, there's sending people in planes. And I think it's hard to have communication with a governor that does not see the immigrant community as human beings. We cannot negotiate for humanity.That is really at stake here. We have, unfortunately, governors like Abbott who do not see us as human beings.

On the other hand, we have mayors like Mayor Johnson that has not only stopped, stand up what was right, but even protect our centrist status so that we protect human rights and collaborating safety measures and collaborating with anybody across the country that is willing to put solution for the day.

KEILAR: What does a long-term solution, sustainable solution look like to you that's something that you've called for?

SIGCHO-LOPEZ: Well, for us, it starts with the federal government taking leadership. I think it's critical that we differentiate policies from the Trump-like era. It is essential and critical that we do that by investing in people, fighting municipalities, all democratic municipalities, capacity of $5 billion.

We're also asking for the expansion of the work permits. We just pass a unanimous -- almost unanimous resolution to expand the work permits. We're asking to make sure that we have the same policies that resettle 29,000 Ukrainians in the Chicago land area while many people from the Global South are treated differently.

So we are asking also to look at the root causes of a foreign policy that, quite frankly, it is not in line of the needs of our communities on the ground on either side of the border.

I welcome also the conversation between the president of Mexico and I hope that this conversation with President Biden happens ASAP. We need collaboration at the border. We need to make sure that we respect international law, that we respect the human rights.

And I think that that's what we now have seen. We need investment. We need collaboration. And unfortunately, we don't have a coordinated effort. The coordinated, our local, state and federal government, unfortunately, this point is not existent because of the lack of willingness from governors like Abbott.

KEILAR: Well, Alderman, we really appreciate you being with us. We're keeping an eye on what is happening there in the Chicago area. Thank you.

SIGCHO-LOPEZ: Thank you so much.

KEILAR: We'll be right back.

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KEILAR: It is day one of 2024, and many people are beginning their New Year's resolutions today.

A recent CBS poll found that 37 percent of Americans plan to make resolutions for this year. And the top ones include, maybe not surprising, improving health, exercising, spending more time with loved ones, and dieting or eating better.

Making a resolution is the easy part, though. How about keeping that resolution?

Let's talk about this with Wendy Walsh. She's a psychology professor at Cal State University Channel Islands.

All right, Professor. What are your tips for making an achievable resolution that you can keep?

WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR: Well, the first thing is you need to dump any idea that willpower will succeed. We have an ancient brain that's designed as a reward system for survival. Eating feels good, tastes good. It was good for our survival. Being a couch potato conserved energy.

But this survival instinct can also lead to compulsions, bad habits, and addictions. So first of all, dump the willpower thing. Number one, change only one behavior at once.

It's too much to say, I'm going to lose weight and stop vaping and save money.

But here's the good news. Research says that when you achieve one new goal, it makes it easier to achieve the next one.

Secondly, I would say, build in a reward system. Well, first of all, figure out the triggers. What comes before that makes you do that bad habit?

You know, a common thing that people who teach people how to quit smoking is they say, well, if you come home and you sit in your favorite chair and you automatically light up, how about rearranging all the furniture in your living room? So you have to stop and be mindful and go, what am I doing? Where am I sitting? And then putting some sneakers by the front door and going for a walk instead might be a good idea. So identify the triggers.

Also, make sure you do put in a reward system. You know, quitting vaping is a great example, very difficult. Let's say you're able to go three days, treat yourself to a stress reducing massage. Some people put a little money in their savings account every day that they don't smoke because research shows that the average quitter saves between 2,000 and $4,000 a year. Right?

KEILAR: It's amazing.

WALSH: Yes. They have social support. Don't do it alone. And understand you're going to have setbacks. And that doesn't mean you've fallen off the wagon forever. It just means you've got to get back on.

KEILAR: That's right. Fall off, get back on, and don't be too hard on yourself about that. If you get back on, that's a good thing.

Can you describe the difference between a good resolution and a bad one?

WALSH: Well, a bad resolution is one that's too general. It's one thing to say, you know, I'm going to get healthy this year. Way too general. If instead you say, I'm going to reduce my intake of sugar by getting rid of bread and pasta and dessert, or I'm going to exercise for 30 minutes, four times a week.

Those are very concrete New Year's resolutions. And those have a much better chance of succeeding than general ideas about, I'm going to get better at something.

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KEILAR: So specificity is important. And stick to one thing is what I'm hearing.

WALSH: One thing at a time and then move on to the next thing right after that. And I do want to say that you should look at setbacks as not a failure, but an opportunity to understand that they're -- where the vulnerabilities are, where you're going to have problems so that you can have strategies for those obstacles when they come up in the future.

So every time you have a setback of, what -- who was I with? What was I eating or drinking at the same time that caused me to do that? And figure out what your new triggers are so that you can manage them.

KEILAR: Those are some great tips, Dr. Walsh. Thank you so much for taking us through that.

WALSH: Thanks, my pleasure.

KEILAR: All right. Happy New Year to you.

And THE LEAD starts after this short break.

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