Earlier this week, Jesse Bushman, Sr. Director of Health Policy at JDRF, visited the Bay Area and held a series of seminars for our community to learn about what JDRF is doing to address the challenge of ever increasing insulin costs. He discussed JDRF’s health policy goals related to this issue and how JDRF is working with health plans, employers, insulin manufacturers and the federal government to address this serious problem.

We pulled Jesse aside and asked him a few pointed questions to help us understand this very complicated issue.

1. JDRF Bay Area: What are some of the ways people can find help with the cost of their insulin?

2. JDRF Bay Area: How are insulin prices set?

3. JDRF Bay Area: What is JDRF doing to advocate for patients?

More information, including how to choose the best health insurance plan and where to find help with diabetes prescriptions and insulin costs, can be found at www.jdrf.org/insurance.

JDRF has made it very easy to make your voice heard on this issue with our Coverage2Control campaign. Please visit jdrf.org/coverage2control and utilize the online tools to take action and send messages to insurance companies. Visit jdrf.org/advocacy to learn more and sign up as a JDRF Advocate.

Jesse Bushman is JDRF’s Senior Director of Health Policy, a position he has held for about two years. He has worked in health policy for 21 years and somewhat like a baseball player switching teams, has also worked for the American College of Nurse-Midwives, Genentech (a major biopharmaceutical manufacturer), Americas Health Insurance Plans (the largest trade association for insurers), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (the federal agency overseeing those programs), the Medical Group Management Association and as a staffer in the US House of Representatives. This background has taught him to look at policy issues from a variety of perspectives, which proves useful in working with the various stakeholder that engage with JDRF.