This Week in Washington: President Biden delivers State of the Union Address, House votes to end CDC COVID-19 Foreign Air Traveler Vaccine Mandate

Congress

House

House Votes to Terminate CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate for Foreign Travelers

On Feb. 8, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 185, which would end the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 vaccine mandate for foreign air travelers. Democratic Reps. Craig (MN), David (NC), Higgins (NY), Horsford (NV), Titus (NV), Lee (NV), and Pappas (NH) joined House Republicans in voting against the vaccine mandate. The bill is not expected to move forward in the Senate.

Senate

Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Bipartisan Bills to Lower Prescription Drug Costs

On Feb. 9, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported out of committee five bills that are designed to lower prescription drug prices. The bills are:

  • 113, Prescription Pricing for the People Act of 2023, as amended, to require the Federal Trade Commission to study the role of intermediaries in the pharmaceutical supply chain and provide Congress with appropriate policy recommendations. The bill was introduced by Sens. Grassley and Cantwell and is cosponsored by Sens. Blumenthal, Lankford, Blackburn, Tuberville, Tillis, Capito, Braun, Boozman, Welch, Coons, Hirono and Feinstein.
  • 142, Preserving Access to Affordable Generics and Biosimilars Act, as amended, to prohibit brand-name drug companies from compensating generic drug companies to delay the entry of a generic drug into the market, and to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable companies to delay the entry of biosimilar biological products and interchangeable biological products. The bill was introduced by Sens. Klobuchar and Grassley and is cosponsored by Sens. Durbin, Cramer, Blumenthal, Kelly, Van Hollen, Booker, Ossoff and Ernst.
  • 148, Stop STALLING Act, as amended, to enable the Federal Trade Commission to deter filing of sham citizen petitions to cover an attempt to interfere with approval of a competing generic drug or biosimilar, to foster competition and to facilitate the efficient review of petitions filed in good faith to raise legitimate public health concerns. The bill was introduced by Sens. Klobuchar and Grassley and is cosponsored by Sens. Durbin, Braun, Blumenthal, Cruz, Booker and Ossoff.
  • 150, Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2023 to amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to prohibit product hopping. The bill was introduced by Sens. Cornyn and Blumenthal and is cosponsored by Sens. Grassley, Durbin, Cruz and Klobuchar.

For more information, click here.

Read more on healthcare policy in McGuireWoods Consulting’s Washington Healthcare Update.