Alec Smith Act
The formal name of the new Minnesota law to assure diabetics have insulin regardless of income is the Alec Smith Emergency Insulin Affordability Act. Turning 26 in 2017, Alex Smith had just lost coverage under his mother’s insurance. Unable to make ends meet as a $35,000-a-year restaurant manager in Minneapolis and unable to afford $1,300 the next month for insulin, Smith began rationing his insulin – kind of like cutting a pill in two. His blood-sugar levels soared, and he died. His parents, James and Nicole Smith Holt, began a campaign to tell Alec’s story and seek a law tor requiring insulin manufacturers to provide the artificial hormone for people who couldn’t afford the drug. The parents testified time and again to legislative committees, always with an oversize photo of Alex on a poster. They took their message to rallies, news conferences and round-table meetings – anywhere people might listen. Insulin manufacturers opposed any legislation but, under public pressure, legislators passed the law bearing Alec Smith’s name in 2020 – almost three years after he died.