2021 LS&HC Horizons - Flipbook - Page 64
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Hogan Lovells
The United States
Biden Administration impact on life sciences and health care
President Biden’s top priority is to end the
raging COVID-19 public health and economic
crises. In his first days in office, Biden signed 12
executive orders to solidify federal coordination
and support for an equitable pandemic response
and recovery, increase vaccine and testing
supply and access, and revitalize the country’s
public health infrastructure. He also encouraged
the Department of Health and Human Services
to create a special enrollment period for
the Affordable Care Act’s Exchanges and to
spend US$50 million on related outreach and
education efforts.
But, recognizing that legislation will be needed
to accomplish some of his goals, President
Biden has reached out to Congress to pass a
bipartisan COVID relief package that includes
a national program to speed up the distribution
and administration of COVID-19 vaccines
across the country, funding to hire 100,000
new public health workers for testing and
tracing, measures to address supply shortages,
support for development and distribution of
new treatments, and reductions in the cost of
insurance premiums. Republicans in Congress
uniformly rejected this proposal, however,
despite calls from some Republican governors to
“go big.” In response, Congressional Democrats
are preparing to use the reconciliation process to
pass a bill along party lines. This process could
drag on for weeks, but we expect Democrats will
ultimately be able to pass a bill.
Additional legislation later this year could
include other health care proposals. These are
most likely to be ideas with some Republican
support, such as measures to lower drug prices,
increase health insurance tax credits for lower
income Americans, or incentives to convince
hold-out states to expand Medicaid eligibility,
instead of large-scale overhauls, such as a
public option plan or Biden’s “Medicare
for More” proposal, which would lower the
eligibility age to 60.
Beth Halpern
Partner, Washington, D.C.
elizabeth.halpern@hoganlovells.com
Anna Weinstein
Senior Director, Washington, D.C.
anna.weinstein@hoganlovells.com
