Sen. Kelly Named Champion of the Year for Work on Insulin Affordability

November 19, 2021

Sen. Kelly Honored by the Greater Connecticut/Western Mass Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation During National Diabetes Awareness Month

HARTFORD – Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly (R-Stratford) has been named the 2021 Champion of the Year by the Greater Connecticut/Western Massachusetts Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

 

The award recognizes Sen. Kelly’s work on bipartisan legislation addressing insulin affordability. Sen. Kelly advocated for a new state law that caps the cost of insulin and supplies for those with state-regulated health insurance plans and allows pharmacists to dispense insulin in emergency situations.

 

Sen. Kelly (center) was presented with the award at the State Capitol by John Kleinhans, Advocacy Chair of JDRF Greater CT/Western MA (right) and Jon Muskrat, Executive Director of the JDRF of Greater CT and Western Massachusetts (left).

 

“I am honored to work every day with advocates, families, and community members to reduce costs and remove barriers to quality health care for all people in our state,” said Sen. Kelly. “Hard work and collaboration have led to important progress in Connecticut to make insulin more affordable and accessible especially in emergency situations to help save lives. I am so thankful to the many public voices that spoke out and helped propel these important policy measures forward.”

 

“We are proud to honor Senate Republican Leader State Senator Kevin Kelly with the JDRF Greater CT/Western MA Champion of the Year award for his bi-partisan work in passing the insulin affordability legislation last session,” said Kleinhans. “November is National Diabetes Awareness, a time to celebrate how far we’ve come in research, treatment, and advocacy. It is also a time to honor the changemakers that have helped get us there. We thank Sen. Kelly for being a changemaker and for and bringing people together to achieve progress.”

 

Sen. Kelly advocated for the passage of An Act Concerning Diabetes and High Deductible Health Plans (Public Act No. 20-4). The new law:

  • Caps the cost of a 30-day supply of insulin at $25 for those who have healthcare coverage by a state-regulated insurance plan beginning in 2022. Other glucose-lowering medications would also be capped at $25, and the cost of other insulin-related supplies would be capped at $100 per month.
  • Allows pharmacists to dispense insulin without a prescription in an emergency situation. This is modeled on “Kevin’s Law,” an Ohio law named after Kevin Houdeshell, who died in 2014 at age 36 after he couldn’t get access to his insulin prescription when it had expired over the New Year’s holiday.
  • Allows for a pharmacist to dispense no more than one 30-day emergency supply of certain diabetes-related drugs and devices to a patient in a 12-month period. It establishes a price cap for these prescriptions and expands the prescription drug monitoring program to include them.

 

For more information from the Greater Connecticut/Western Massachusetts JDRF visit www.jdrf.org/ctma/. For more information on Sen. Kelly visit www.SenatorKevinKelly.com.