Biden Seeks $32 Billion for Ukraine, Covid Response

White House Slashes Covid Funding Request Amid Republican Opposition …

The Biden administration is asking Congress for $22.5 billion to fund its ongoing response to the Covid-19 pandemic, a significant decrease from the $30 billion the Department of Health and Human Services told lawmakers that it would need two weeks ago. About $18.25 billion of the total would be used to boost public health programs, while $4.25 billion would target vaccine research and development.

The reduced request comes amid considerable Republican resistance to providing more federal funds for the pandemic response. As we told you yesterday, a group of GOP senators led by Mitt Romney of Utah sent a letter to the White House questioning the need for additional funding and demanding better accounting for the more than $5 trillion in emergency pandemic aid already provided by Congress. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the Committee on Appropriations, told reporters Thursday that he would not support the Biden administration’s request.

“I think that we ought to determine — and we’ve asked the administration — how much unspent money is there,” Shelby said. “There are billions of dollars unspent. The American people need an accounting on how much is left. Let’s spend that first before we start borrowing more.”

Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the minority whip, said there was strong support in his caucus for Shelby’s approach, and that Republicans would oppose adding additional pandemic funding to the $1.5 trillion annual spending package for 2022 that lawmakers are trying to wrap up by March 11, at least until there’s a better sense of where and how funding has been used so far. “There’s a general belief that there’s a lot of money out there still floating around and before we put more out, we need to get an accounting for that,” Thune said. “And I think that includes even people who otherwise might be inclined to support some of the things that would be included there.”

Democrats said they will continue to push for the additional funding. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said the money “is absolutely necessary” for dealing with the ongoing pandemic. “In fact, we probably will need more as we need more therapies,” she said. “This is science, this is going forward, so I would hope that they would see the wisdom of the science in terms of what we need for COVID because the last thing we need is more transmission,” she added.

… While Boosting Request for Ukraine Aid

Last week, the Biden administration requested $6.4 billion to respond to the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine, split between $2.9 billion for humanitarian assistance and $3.5 billion for military support. On Thursday, the White House increased the total request to $10 billion, with $4.8 billion going to the Department of Defense, $5 billion going to the State Department and the rest divided among the Treasury, Commerce, Justice and Energy departments.

About $1.8 billion of the military aid would cover the cost of moving more U.S. troops to Europe, while $1.75 billion would be used to replace weapons and supplies provided to Ukraine. Another $500 million would go toward direct military assistance to Ukraine and NATO countries in eastern Europe.

The request is for “emergency” funding, which means that the money would be in addition to established budgets and not require any cuts in planned spending. The funds would be in addition to the $650 million in security aid already provided to Ukraine, as well as the $52 million in humanitarian aid and $1 billion in loan guarantees.

Lawmakers could potentially fulfill the request by adding it to the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2022, currently under negotiation in Congress and facing a March 11 deadline.

The White House said this week that the latest aid request probably won’t be its last. “Given the rapidly evolving situation in Ukraine, I anticipate that additional needs may arise over time,” Shalanda Young, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, told Congress Wednesday. “This funding request is based on the administration’s best information on resource requirements at this time, and we will remain in touch with the Congress in the coming weeks and months as we assess resource requirements beyond these immediate needs.”

Nonprofit Drugmaker Announces Plan to Slash Cost of Insulin

President Joe Biden this week reiterated his call for Congress to cap the out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 a month, slamming drug companies that he said can make insulin for about $10 a vial but charge up to 30 times as much.

A nonprofit generic drug company isn’t waiting for lawmakers to act.

Civica RX announced Thursday that it plans to manufacture and distribute generic versions of the drug “at significantly lower prices than insulins currently on the market.” Civica said that it plans to set its prices at no more than $30 per vial and $55 for a box of five injector pen cartridges — levels that The Washington Post’s Christopher Rowland notes are “a fraction of list prices that currently range from $125 to more than $500.” The company said its price would be based on the cost of development, production and distribution.

“We know that to really solve for the insulin cost and access challenges so many Americans face, we need a process – from manufacturing to setting a transparent price – that ultimately lowers the cost of the drug for those living with diabetes,” said Martin VanTrieste, president and chief executive officer of Civica Rx. “In that spirit, we will ensure patients know where Civica’s low-cost insulin is available.”

Civica was launched in 2018 by hospital systems and health care philanthropies with the aim of producing generic drugs under a different model to alleviate chronic drug shortages. The company says it now provides about 60 generic injectable medicines to more than 55 hospital systems representing more than 1,500 hospitals. It said it expects to begin selling insulin in 2024, after it has completed construction of a 140,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Petersburg, Virginia. Civica’s insulins will also have to win approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

Why it matters: The high cost of insulin has been a focal point in the fight to lower prescription drug prices, and stories abound of diabetics rationing their insulin or forced to choose between their lifesaving medication and basic living expenses. The plan Biden touted this week would only cap costs for patients with Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance, which advocates say would leave the neediest patients still faced with paying full retail prices.

And as vital as low-cost insulin is to the more than 7 million Americans who rely on the drug, Walid Gellad, associate professor of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh, told the Post that the Civica Rx announcement could have broader-reaching implications. “Just as much as the benefit of this is in providing insulin at low cost, it is also a proof of concept, I think, of a new way to provide lifesaving medicines that shouldn’t cost as much as they do,” he said. “Also, this is another entrant into the transparent pricing model for drugs, not reliant on a complicated rebate system or inflated charges to work.”