https://mailchi.mp/d62b14db92fb/the-weekly-gist-february-10-2023?e=d1e747d2d8

In his second annual State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday, President Biden pointed to his accomplishments in shoring up the Affordable Care Act, and presented a fairly modest healthcare agenda that could garner bipartisan support.

Though the back-and-forth with Republican lawmakers over Medicare cuts made headlines, his prepared remarks focused primarily on drug costs, as he touted Medicare’s new drug negotiation powers and called for Medicare’s $35 monthly insulin cap to be extended to commercial health plans. 

The Gist: The fate of the President’s drug cost proposals, along with his calls for more COVID funding, mental health treatment, and cancer research, rest in the hands of a Republican House unlikely to work with him.

It brings us no joy to acknowledge that the 2024 Presidential race has already begun, meaning that substantive legislative action will likely take a back seat for the next two years. Looking ahead, we’d expect Biden’s reelection pitch to sound a lot like Tuesday’s speech, shored up by whatever he can deliver via rulemaking and executive orders.