DeGette, Bilirakis to serve as co-chairs of House Diabetes Caucus
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House Diabetes Caucus announced today that U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) will serve as the caucus co-chairs for the 118th Congress.
Bilirakis will take over as the caucus’s Republican co-chair from Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), who resigned from Congress in May.
DeGette, who will continue to serve as the Democratic co-chair of the caucus, says she’s looking forward to working with her colleague from Florida in the next congress to build upon the momentum the caucus has made in recent years to increase funding for diabetes research and lower the cost of insulin for all Americans.
“As the mother of a daughter born with Type 1 diabetes, I know firsthand the challenges that so many Americans with this disease are facing on a daily basis,” DeGette said. “I am excited to welcome Congressman Bilirakis as the new Republican co-chair of our caucus. He, too, knows firsthand the challenges that millions of Americans living with diabetes are facing and I look forward to working with him to continue building bipartisan support for our mission to lower the cost of insulin for all Americans and ultimately cure this disease once and for all.”
“As one of the 37.3 million Americans living with diabetes, I am all too aware of the serious health complications that this condition can cause if it is not properly managed,” Bilirakis said. “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1 in 10 Americans have diabetes and 1 in 5 are unaware of their condition. In addition to the harmful impact on millions of patients, this issue indirectly impacts all Americans as $1 out of every $4 in US healthcare costs are spent caring for patients experiencing complications stemming from unmanaged diabetes. Better education about proper prevention and management of this chronic condition is critical for improving patient outcomes and lowering the costs associated with treatment. I am excited to work with my colleague, Rep. Diana DeGette, to lead the important work of this bipartisan Congressional Caucus.”
The House Diabetes Caucus was established in 1996 and currently has more than 250 members, making it one of the largest caucuses on Capitol Hill. Since its founding, the caucus’s mission has been to educate Members of Congress and their staff about diabetes and to support legislative activities that would improve diabetes research, education and treatment.
DeGette and Bilirakis said the caucus’s top priorities in the upcoming congress will be reducing the cost of insulin; increasing Americans’ access to diabetes prevention programs, including through the use of telehealth; and increasing funding for diabetes-related research to help find a cure for the disease.
More information about the caucus, including the current list of members, is available at: https://diabetescaucus-degette.house.gov/.