Biden Administration

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On October 30, 2023, the Biden Administration released and signed an Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (Executive Order) that articulates White House priorities and policies related to the use and development of artificial intelligence (AI) across different sectors, including health care.

Read about significant changes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has made to the Medicare program to improve access to care and lower prescription drug costs in the first year since the IRA’s passage.

Our October 2022 Energy & Sustainability Washington Update covers the ongoing rollout of IRA clean energy provisions, the status of the energy permitting bill, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law opportunities, and National Clean Energy Week.

In this webinar, Anne Levin-Nussbaum, a Member in our Energy & Sustainability and Tax Practices and her colleagues at ML Strategies discuss the energy tax provisions, review the Act’s new direct funding opportunities and offer insights regarding the implementation of such funding programs.

When President Biden’s signature Build Back Better Act faltered last year, many viewed the effort to be a failure. However, negotiations continued before Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced the package in late July. Nearly half of the $737 billion in revenue will be invested in clean energy and includes many direct funding opportunities in the form of grants, loans, and rebates focused on climate, energy, and energy efficiency. 

Read about the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 enacted August 16, 2022, which extends and expands existing tax credits and adds several new energy tax credits to encourage the production of electricity using clean energy and the reduction of carbon emissions.

On August 7, 2022, after extensive deliberation, Senate Democrats passed their long-awaited reconciliation bill, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (the Reconciliation Bill). In addition to climate and tax provisions, the Reconciliation Bill includes a revised drug pricing reform package that Democrats had approved last month. In this post, we review what passing the long-awaited drug pricing reforms means for Medicare recipients and for drug prices in the United States.

On June 22, 2022, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) issued guidance advocating for Congress and federal agencies to make permanent certain telehealth access measures for people struggling with substance use disorders (SUD). The guidance, titled Telehealth and Substance Use Disorder Services in the Era of Covid-19: Review and Recommendations (Guidance), made four recommendations geared at increasing telehealth access, utilization, and equity among individuals who have experienced an SUD. This blogpost with provide an analysis of the four recommendations and their implications. 

Read about President Biden’s proposed FY 2023 budget allocating funding to  combat climate change and advance clean energy development, including funding for the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program.

On March 21, President Biden warned U.S. companies to be on guard against Russian cyberattacks, citing intelligence as a call to action.

It is, somewhat amazingly, the beginning of January again. During this time of year we typically publish a series of blog posts that recap the most interesting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) activities over the prior 12 months and consider what the agency is likely to focus on going forward. This year, however, we’re taking a different approach and will be providing more of a birds-eye view of our favorite federal agency as it stands as of the end of 2021. Because there is just too much going on at the administrative, enforcement, and legislative levels to get into the details of everything in one fell swoop. So make sure you’re signed up for Mintz Health Law Viewpoints to receive updates throughout the year on issues as they develop.

On November 15th, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. The historic infrastructure plan includes the single largest investment to address climate change in U.S. history. The Law allocates billions of dollars to priority areas, including significant funding for the development of carbon capture infrastructure, alternative energy sources and technologies (including, without limitation, solar, geothermal, clean hydrogen, advanced nuclear, hydroelectric power and battery technologies), grid infrastructure, and electric vehicle infrastructure.

Read about a Biden administration proclamation, issued on December 28, 2021, revoking the travel ban for individuals who had been present in eight countries in Southern Africa.

This alert covers the Biden administration’s ban on travel to the US for individuals who have been present in a number of countries in southern Africa within the past 14 days.

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (“DOJ”) just announced that they will host a virtual workshop on December 6 and 7, 2021, to discuss the agencies’ efforts to promote competition in labor markets and worker mobility.

Read about the October 25, 2021 Presidential Proclamation confirming that it will end all COVID-19 travel bans on Monday, November 8 and how this policy change will impact nonimmigrant travelers to the U.S.