WASHINGTON – Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) issued a bipartisan report titled, “Insulin Deserts: The Urgency of Lowering the Cost of Insulin for Everyone” that highlights insulin disparities across the U.S. The senators’ report confirms the need to make prices for the life-saving medicine more affordable for Americans who suffer from diabetes.

In March, Kennedy and Warnock introduced the Affordable Insulin Now Act of 2023 to cap the price of insulin for all patients, including those who are uninsured, at $35 for a 30-day supply. 

“The cost of insulin is rising for too many Louisianians who rely on it just to survive. I’m grateful to work with Sen. Warnock to issue this bipartisan report, which details the need for Congress to pass our Affordable Insulin Now Act. By capping prices at $35 for every patient, we can help lower future health care costs associated with complications that arise from untreated diabetes,” said Kennedy. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that Americans spend $327 billion annually to cover health care expenses and lost wages related to diabetic care. Louisiana alone spends an estimated $5.7 billion on care related to diabetes each year.  

“This alarming report makes clear who will be left behind if Congress fails to pass my $35 insulin cost cap, including uninsured Georgians who live in the 105 counties considered insulin deserts. There’s good news though: my bipartisan legislation with Senator Kennedy would ensure that uninsured folks, especially folks in insulin deserts, are able to afford their insulin by capping their cost at $35 a month,” said Warnock.

Kennedy and Warnock’s report finds that there are 813 counties in America that are “insulin deserts,” places where 16% or more of the population is uninsured and 10% or more of the population has diabetes.

The Affordable Insulin Now Act of 2023 would:

• Require private group or individual plans to cover one of each insulin dosage form (i.e. vial, pen) and insulin type (i.e. rapid-acting, short-acting, intermediate-acting or long-acting) for no more than $35 per month.

• Require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a program to reimburse qualifying entities for covering any costs that exceed $35 for providing a 30-day supply of insulin to uninsured patients. 

• Be fully paid for by an offset, so it will not add to the deficit.

In addition to the Affordable Insulin Now Act, Kennedy last year introduced an amendment to President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to cap insulin costs. In 2021, Kennedy introduced the Seniors Saving on Insulin Act, the Vital Medication Affordability Act and the Ending Pricey Insulin Act  to address skyrocketing insulin and epinephrine prices.    

Kennedy also penned an op-ed in the Washington Examiner to highlight how capping the price of insulin would save Americans money overall and an op-ed in the Ouachita Citizen that details legislative solutions to lower the costs of insulin for Louisiana families.

Read the full report here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today joined Ranking Member Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and all other Republican colleagues on the Banking Committee in urging the Biden administration to withdraw the Basel III Endgame proposal. 

Financial regulators will appear before the committee Tuesday to answer questions regarding what impact regulations, such as the Basel III Endgame Proposal, have on Americans. 

“We have serious concerns that, as proposed, Basel III will restrict billions of dollars in capital from those who need it most, resulting in costlier and more limited access to credit for millions of Americans. This would create severe, adverse impacts on the entire U.S. economy, from every day American consumers to the small businesses that are the backbone of our economy,” the senators wrote.  

“Ultimately, these large increases in capital have not been shown to be evidentially based as the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC have failed to provide proper analysis or data to justify their merits, particularly around the costs they will impose throughout all sectors of the economy,” they said.

The lawmakers highlighted concerns that the proposal would affect affordable housing, mortgage lending, small business lending, consumer lending, limit the availability of access to credit cards and home equity lines of credit and put U.S. companies at disadvantage to foreign competitors.

“As American consumers continue to struggle with persistently high inflation, reduced access to affordable homeownership, and a slowing economy driven by the reckless spending of the Biden administration, any proposed changes to our bank regulatory framework must be based on demonstrable benefits and needs, not pre-determined agendas which will only serve to harm the economy and consumers alike. Accordingly, we urge you to withdraw the Basel III Endgame proposal as written and urge the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the OCC to operate in a more transparent and justified manner,” they concluded. 

Background:

• In July, the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a joint notice of proposed rulemaking for revising bank capital requirements, known as Basel III Endgame.

• Revisions to capital requirements in the proposal come from changes to international capital standards, which the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in Switzerland issued in response to the 2007-2009 financial crisis.  

• Regulators intend to apply their rule to banks with over $100 billion in assets, which will impact the largest banks in the U.S. and change how they conduct lending and trading. 

Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) also signed the letter.

The full letter is available here.

Watch Kennedy’s comments here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today detailed how real wages have fallen for Americans because of the persistent inflation under Pres. Joe Biden. Kennedy noted that weekly wages, when adjusted for inflation, have decreased 3.9% since President Biden’s first full month in office.

Key comments from Kennedy’s remarks include:

“Pres. Biden’s inflation—which is man-made, and that man’s name is Joe Biden—is costing my people, the average Louisiana family, $806—not a year—a month! Eight-hundred-and-six dollars a month. That's $9,700 a year. Now imagine, if you were making $55,000 a year and you've got to come out-of-pocket with an extra $9,700 a year.”

. . .

“What [Americans] care about is prices going down, and that’s de-inflation, and we do not have de-inflation. The point I'm trying to make is: We're stuck with these high prices. If they get inflation down to zero, those prices are not going down.”

. . .

“Since Pres. Biden has been in office, consumer goods in the United States of America are up 17%.”

. . .

“The average wage of the average American has gone down after inflation. . . . The appropriate way to look at wage increases is not to look at the raw or the aggregate increase—[it’s] looking at the increase after inflation.

“And if you take all the average wage increases in the United States of America, and you look at the average inflation in the United States of America, workers have actually lost ground. Workers today—in Nov. of 2023—are actually making less per hour, after inflation, than they were in Feb. 2021.”

Kennedy’s full remarks are available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $9,722,145 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana disaster aid. 

“So many communities in south Louisiana were left devastated by Hurricanes Laura, Zeta and Ida. I’m grateful to see this $9.7 million help their recovery,” said Kennedy.

The FEMA aid will fund the following:

• $2,766,186 to Tangipahoa Parish for management costs associated with Hurricane Ida.

• $1,819,564 to the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District to repair damages to the Humble Canal Floodgate resulting from Hurricane Ida.

• $1,608,031 to the Society of the Roman Catholic Church to repair damages to St. Margaret School resulting from Hurricane Laura.

• $1,341,745 to the city of Lake Charles to repair damages to the Henry Heights Recreation Center resulting from Hurricane Laura.

• $1,169,690 to the Office of Risk Management to repair damages to the Elaine Nunez Community College, Office Facilities Corporation and Louisiana University Marine Consortium resulting from Hurricane Zeta.

• $1,016,928 to St. John the Baptist Parish Library for the water removal and mold remediation of LaPlace Library, Roland Borne, Sr. Memorial Library, Garyville Library and Reserve Library.