WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the Ending Pricey Insulin Act to address skyrocketing insulin prices. Three insulin producers control 99 percent of the U.S. market, and the price of the drug tripled between 2002 and 2013 alone.

The Ending Pricey Insulin Act would make the price of insulin more affordable for Louisianians and Americans living with diabetes. Kennedy moved to have the Senate pass the legislation by unanimous consent today, but lawmakers blocked his motion. The Senate could vote on the bill at a later date.

“The free market works wonders when it is truly free, but not when a few drug giants collude to hurt patients. These soaring prices have real consequences for Louisiana’s insulin users. I introduced the Ending Pricey Insulin Act to help give millions of Americans access to this crucial drug, and I hope my fellow lawmakers will help bring a little logic back to the distorted insulin market,” said Kennedy. 

The Ending Pricey Insulin Act would cap the out-of-pocket costs of insulin to $50 for a 30-day supply for individuals enrolled in all health plans. The legislation would cover uninsured people as well. Programs covered under the bill include Medicare, Medicaid, high deductible health plans, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, veterans health plans and TriCare plans.

The Ending Pricey Insulin Act also includes a retroactive clause that ensures any out-of-pocket cost above $50 that an individual pays after the bill’s enactment will be reimbursed.

More than 500,000 Louisianians suffer from diabetes, and an estimated 30,000 Louisianians receive a diabetes diagnosis each year. Nationwide, 34 million Americans have diabetes, and more than 7 million depend on insulin. 

Some diabetes patients have sued the largest insulin makers, accusing them of charging consumers a higher price than what they charge industry middlemen. In 1996, a one-month supply of Humalog insulin cost $21. By 2019, that price had soared to $275—a 1,200 percent increase.

The Trump administration allowed Medicare Part D drug plans to offer insulin at a $35 copay and also issued an executive order blocking federal funds from going to health centers that over-charge patients for insulin. The Biden administration froze this order. 

Text of the Ending Pricey Insulin Act is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today urged U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to abandon the department’s plan to allocate $650 billion in special drawing rights (SDR) to foreign countries through the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Currently, Yellen plans to make the allocation without consent from Congress. 

“I am concerned that an SDR allocation will not support low-income countries and instead will support dictators, China, and other adversaries, all while burdening the American taxpayer. Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Hassan Rouhani, Bashar al-Assad, Nicolás Maduro, and the Burmese generals are all lined up to get hundreds of millions and, in some cases, billions from the Treasury Department,” wrote Kennedy.

Under the proposed SDR allocation, the world’s leading economies would receive $426 billion—well over half—of the allocation. Rich and middle-income nations would receive $126 billion, while low-income countries would receive only $21 billion—or 3%—of the allocation. China alone would receive more aid than all the low-income countries combined. 

“Additionally, I am deeply concerned that this allocation will benefit hostile governments and our adversaries. Under the proposal, Iran, a country heavily sanctioned by the United States for its illicit nuclear activity, would receive $3.5 billion in aid. China would receive $22 billion in aid. Russia will get $18 billion . . . Despite claims that the U.S. can refuse to buy SDRs from dictators, this type of blanket allocation will allow any dictator whose country receives SDRs to exchange them for hard currencies by simply channeling the exchange through a third country,” explained Kennedy.   

Not only would the money flow to enemy regimes, the U.S. will have to borrow the money that it would have to lend to these nations.

“In other words, America will have to borrow from Peter at home to pay Paul overseas: American workers and families will be on the hook for making up the difference between the interest rate the United States would have to pay to borrow this money by issuing perpetual bonds,” said Kennedy.

The SDR loans also come with a high risk of the receivers not repaying them. In fact, the countries have no obligation or deadline for paying the loans back. Nothing prevents a foreign government from redeeming SDRs at the U.S.-subsidized rate of 0.05 percent and then turning that cash around to reinvest in the 10-year Treasury bond, which offers payouts around 1.7 percent.

The full text of the letter is available here.

Kennedy’s exchange with Yellen on March 24 is available here.

MADISONVILLE, La. — Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and other senators in introducing the Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act, which prohibits federal funds from purchasing solar panels manufactured or assembled in Communist China, specifically focusing on Xinjiang province, which is known for its use of forced labor.

“The Chinese Communist Party is guilty of monstrous human rights violations, and the regime’s cruelty is on full display in Xinjiang, where Uyghurs are suffering in Communist prison camps. Reports indicate Beijing relies on forced labor in Xinjiang to make solar panels—and other products—many of which it sells to the U.S. Americans should have no hand in funding the CCP’s atrocities, and the Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act would ensure that our federal dollars don’t fund the Communist Party, or any of its affiliated entities, through the purchase of solar panels,” said Kennedy.

“No taxpayer dollars should be used to prop up the Communist Party of China, which is committing a genocide against the Uyghurs under General Secretary Xi’s direction, continues to threaten our ally Taiwan and strip basic rights from Hong Kongers. Reports show that many solar companies rely on materials and labor from Communist China’s Xinjiang province, which is known for forced labor and horrific abuse of the Uyghurs. My Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act, which prohibits the use of federal funds to buy solar panels from Communist China, sends a clear message to General Secretary Xi that the United States will not turn a blind eye to his genocide and human rights abuses,” said Scott.

The Keep China Out of Solar Energy Act requires:

• The Director of the Office of Management and Budget to develop standards and guidelines to prohibit federal funds from being used to purchase solar panels manufactured or assembled by entities with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
• The Comptroller of the U.S. to submit to Congress a report on the amount of solar panels procured by federal departments and agencies from covered entities.
• The Director of the Office of Management and Budget to conduct an independent study of the domestic market of solar panel production and the global supply chain and workforce involved in solar panel production.

Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) also co-sponsored the legislation.