Good evening! There are 24 days left in 2023, but the color experts at Pantone are already predicting that next year will be pretty peachy. They announced today that their color of the year for 2024 is called Peach Fuzz, a shade that they say carries “a feeling of kindness and tenderness, communicating a message of caring and sharing, community and collaboration.” Perhaps the Peach Fuzz “message of compassion and empathy” is just what the country needs, but we’re guessing the brutal election year ahead isn’t actually going to leave many feeling warm and fuzzy. Paint seller Sherwin-Williams, meanwhile, chose “a breezy, blissful blue” called Upward as its color of the year. If 2024 does turn out blue, we’re certain that Democrats will be feeling blissful.
Here's what’s happening.
Biden Administration Says It Could Seize Drug Patents to Lower Prescription Costs
The Biden administration took steps Thursday that could clear the way for the federal government to seize the patents of high-priced pharmaceuticals that were developed using public funds.
The move comes as the White House searches for ways to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. Under guidelines published by the Commerce Department, federal agencies could exercise “march-in rights” — the power to claim patents for public use — against pharmaceutical companies that developed a given drug using federally subsidized research.
The new guidelines allow officials to consider high prices as a contributing factor in the decision to exercise march-in rights. The availability of a drug is another key variable. Companies producing a drug that is both high-priced and has limited availability could have their patents seized and licensed to another producer, with the goal of creating competition and lowering prices.
“Taxpayers have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on research catalyzing the discovery and development of new prescription drugs,” the White House said in a statement. “The Biden-Harris Administration believes taxpayer-funded drugs and other taxpayer-funded inventions should be available and affordable to the public.”
White House National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard on Thursday highlighted the importance of pricing. "When drug companies won't sell taxpayer-funded drugs at reasonable prices, we will be prepared to allow other companies to provide those drugs for less," she said. "If American taxpayers paid to help invent a prescription drug, the drug companies should sell it to the American public for a reasonable price."
Unused potential: The federal government has never exercised march-in rights for drugs, but the potential authority to do so comes from the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which established rules for organizations to commercialize inventions that were created using federal funds.
The Trump administration had proposed a rule that would have prevented the federal government from exercising march-in rights solely on the basis of price. But the Biden administration did not approve the rule and instead is proposing to make price a key factor in determining whether to seize a patent.
Drug manufacturers will likely challenge any effort to exercise march-in rights, and the pharmaceutical lobby criticized Thursday’s announcement, claiming that patent seizures would limit the development of new drugs. “This would be yet another loss for American patients who rely on public-private sector collaboration to advance new treatments and cures,” said a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA.
Proponents, however, say that seizures would provide another tool for the federal government to restrain prices. Peter Maybarduk of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen told The Washington Post that the use of march-in rights could serve as “a check on profiteering” by pharmaceutical firms. “Drugmakers should be on notice that unreasonable pricing could cost them their monopoly,” he said.
And just the threat to use federal power to seize drug patents could have an immediate effect. “If I was a drug company that was trying to license a product that had benefited heavily from taxpayer money, I’d be very careful about how to price that product,” Jing Luo, a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, told the Associated Press. “I wouldn’t want anyone to take my product away from me.”
What’s Next for Biden’s Ukraine Aid Package?
After Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a $111 billion package of foreign aid, the path toward a deal providing funding for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and border security remains highly uncertain.
Some Republicans had reportedly expressed hope that their votes against the package would force Democrats to resume negotiations over GOP border policy demands. “Republicans continue to believe that they have the upper hand in the negotiations over border policy because President Biden is adamant that Ukraine cannot be abandoned,” The Washington Post reported. Some GOPers also saw positive signs in President Joe Biden’s statement yesterday that he is “willing to make significant compromises” to “fix the broken border system.”
Talks reportedly resumed Thursday. “They are back at the table, negotiations are back,” an unnamed Democratic source told NBC News. “Republicans presented us a proposal, we are still digesting it, there is still a lot of daylight between the two sides.” The White House is reportedly also getting involved in the border talks now in a “serious way.” Still, the lead Senate negotiators, Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, left the Capitol for the week without a deal, though they still expect to talk by phone over the weekend, Bloomberg’s Erik Wasson reports.
Time is running short, though, and even if negotiators can make a breakthrough and the Senate ends up staying in session an extra week, until just before Christmas, Wasson notes that lawmakers say House Speaker Mike Johnson is set to let his members depart by December 15 — next Friday — leaving no chance for the House to deliver Ukraine aid this year.
Happy Hanukkah and happy 6th birthday, Sara! Send your feedback to yrosenberg@thefiscaltimes.com.
Fiscal News Roundup
- White House Targets Drug Patents in Latest Effort to Lower Prices – Washington Post
- Biden Sees Ukraine Aid as a Priority. But to Get It, He Must Solve a Vexing Immigration Puzzle – NBC News
- Senate Border Negotiators Prepare for Possible Weekend Talks in Hopes of Finding Deal – Politico
- White House Open to New Asylum Limits for Ukraine Aid: Source – Reuters
- White House Says It Doesn’t Regret Including Ukraine Aid in Package With Border Funding – The Hill
- Top Lawmakers Drop Abortion Limits From Defense Bill, Setting up Fight With the Right – Politico
- Amendments Blocking Funding for Drag Shows, Gender-Affirming Care Dropped From NDAA – The Hill
- Defense Bill Would Let Air Force Retire A-10s, F-15s — but Not F-22s – Defense News
- Fetterman Defends 'Reasonable' Border Talks as Fellow Dems Fume – Politico
- Treasury Rally on Fed Bets Is Just Getting Started, Bank of America Predicts – Bloomberg
- ‘Stalemate’ on AIDS Relief to Drag Into 2024 – Politico
- House Votes to Rebuff Biden on Student Loan Relief Plan, Again – Roll Call
- California’s Budget Deficit Balloons to $68B – Politico
- Social Security Clawbacks Hit a Million More People Than Agency Chief Told Congress – Cox Media
Views and Analysis
- People Are Pessimistic About Their Economic Futures. Can You Blame Them? – Steven Rattner, New York Times
- Here’s Why It Would Be Even Harder Now to Kill Obamacare – Tami Luhby, CNN
- Was It Worth It, Kevin McCarthy? – Michelle Cottle, New York Times
- Ukraine’s US Lifeline Is Hanging by a Thinning Thread – Stephen Collinson, CNN
- Pass Ukraine Aid and Address the Border – The Editors, National Review
- Have the Fed’s Rate Increases Meant Nothing? – Karl W. Smith, Bloomberg
- Congress Should Invest in AmeriCorps’ Impact and Promise – David Price, The Hill
- How Britain Put One of the World’s Best Health Care Systems on Life Support – Adam Westbrook, New York Times (video)