The United States continues to pay the highest drug prices in the world, and Latino communities are among the hardest hit. That's not an accident. It’s the direct result of a system designed to serve pharmaceutical corporations, not patients. 

I know this because I’ve lived it. 

For years, I’ve struggled with the high cost of prescription drugs. In 2018, my doctor recommended the drug Ozempic to treat my diabetes and assist in bringing my blood sugar to healthier levels. It’s one of the most widely used medications in the country. In fact, 6% of U.S. adults were taking Ozempic or another GLP-1 drug last year. 

But “sticker shock” doesn’t even begin to describe the moment I saw how much it would cost me. 

Because my insurance doesn’t cover the drug, my out-of-pocket cost is over $1,000 a month—far more than I can afford. Even though Ozempic costs less than $5 to manufacture, I remember standing at the pharmacy, completely crushed, realizing I had to walk away without the medication I needed.

Simply because I couldn’t afford it. 

Unfortunately, I’m far from alone. One in three Americans can’t afford their prescription medication. And the impact on Latino communities is even more severe. Latino seniors report difficulty affording their prescription medication at rates roughly 1.5 to 2 times higher than their White counterparts. And a recent Gallup poll found that the number of Latino adults unable to afford or access quality healthcare has jumped from 8% in 2021 to 18% in 2024—the sharpest increase of any group.

I’ve had to get creative just to manage my diabetes while keeping food on the table. Sometimes, my clinic offers me small samples of Ozempic. At other times, my family, including my two sons, chips in to help me buy a dose or two.

But more than once, I’ve been forced to travel to another country to buy my prescriptions at a significantly lower price. A single prescription of Ozempic, which would cost $1,000 in the U.S., is a mere $300 in Mexico, $103 in Germany, or $93 in the United Kingdom. Americans pay up to eight times more than people in other wealthy countries for the same medications. It’s a clear sign that our system is broken.

That’s not just frustrating. It’s outrageous. And for many Americans, it can mean life or death. 

That’s why it’s so important that leaders in Washington continue the momentum to lower drug prices and protect the progress we’ve already made. Nearly 90% of Americans say prescription drug prices are too high, and more than 9 in 10 voters across party lines believe Congress must act to lower them.

From Medicare negotiation to efforts to crack down on patent abuse and end tax breaks for drug ads on TV, important conversations are happening right now about how to rein in Big Pharma’s power and bring down prices.

Proposals like the Most Favored Nation (MFN) policy would be another step in the right direction, helping ensure that Americans don’t pay more than people in other wealthy countries for the exact same drugs. Done right, reforms like this could be game-changers for patients like me. 

I know these policies won’t pass without a fight. Drug companies spend millions lobbying Congress and challenging any reform that threatens their profits. But the fight to lower drug prices is worth it. No one should have to choose between paying for groceries and paying for medicine, and no one should have to travel across the world just to afford the care they need.

I’m a full-time working mom trying to keep my diabetes under control. I shouldn’t have to wonder where my next dose will come from, and neither should anyone else. 

There’s real momentum to fix our broken system. We just have to keep pushing and ensure we complete the job for the millions of patients counting on us.

Sonia Vega is a mother and wife from Phoenix, Arizona. Even with a full-time job and health insurance, she still can't afford her diabetes medication due to its high cost.

Editor’s Note: The team at Patients For Affordable Drugs Now, a bipartisan national patient organization fighting to lower drug prices, sent us this opinion piece. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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The Latino Newsletter welcomes opinion pieces in English and/or Spanish from community voices. Submission guidelines are here. The views expressed by outside opinion contributors do not necessarily reflect the editorial views of this outlet or its employees.