Senate Passes $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 Relief Bill

The Senate passed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill on Saturday in a 50-49 vote along party lines, including a $500 million appropriations injection for the FDA — equivalent to a 16 percent increase in the agency’s fiscal year 2021 funding.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (H.R. 1319) was passed in the House on Feb. 27 (DID, March 1) and sent to the Senate as part of the “reconciliation” process that allows Congress to enact spending legislation with just a majority vote. The FDA-related provisions did not change in the Senate bill and the House is now expected to vote on the amended bill on Tuesday.

The bill earmarks the extra FDA funding for postmarket surveillance and inspection activities for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, monitoring potential shortages of COVID-19 products and related activities.

The additional FDA funding would be “by far the largest Congressional acknowledgement of the pressures and costs that the pandemic has imposed on FDA,” noted the Alliance for a Stronger FDA, an advocacy group that lobbies for increased FDA funding.

The relief bill would also end Medicaid drug pricing rebate caps beginning in 2023, allowing states to seek larger discounts when negotiating drug prices, which the pharmaceutical industry has opposed. ― Jason Scott