Healthcare topics at the US state of the Union
2 min readMar 8, 2024
Yesterday, President Biden delivered the 2024 State of the Union address. As predicted, there were a number of healthcare references throughout:
- IVF & Reproductive Rights: Advocated for nationwide IVF access and defended reproductive freedoms, spotlighting the need for legislative action following state-level restrictions. I thought this part of the speech was accompanied by powerful women’s health examples.
- Prescription Drug Pricing: Highlighted success in capping insulin costs at $35/month for seniors and proposed extending this cap and Medicare’s drug price negotiation to benefit more Americans. I don’t believe he mentioned the Inflation Reduction Act by name, but that’s the legal vehicle that’s driving the current pricing negotiations between CMS and Pharma.
- ACA Expansion: Emphasized protection and expansion of the Affordable Care Act, a legislation which has faced multiple repeal pressures, impacting coverage for millions of Americans.
- Women’s Health Research: Announced a pioneering initiative and a $12 billion plan to boost underfunded women’s health research, aiming to transform healthcare outcomes. Curious to see what this effort will focus on in the upcoming months, but apparently at least $100M of research dollars are going to ARPA-H
- ARPA-H: Discussed supporting standing up ARPA-H in health research, aiming to end cancer as we know it by driving innovations and supporting large-scale projects.
- Environment and healthcare: While it wasn’t directly phrased as a healthcare issue, I appreciated the commitment to “Removing poisonous lead pipes so every child can drink clean water without risk of getting brain damage.”
- Bonus healthcare adjacent topics: “Strengthen penalties on fentanyl trafficking. Pass bipartisan privacy legislation to protect our children online. Harness the promise of A.I. and protect us from its peril”
Interesting to follow the progress of each of these important topics and initiatives.
