The $1.8 trillion proposal, which is intended to be one pillar of the President’s broad infrastructure vision, includes funding for education, childcare, paid family and medical leave, and tax provisions. Many Democrats in Congress had pushed the White House to include major healthcare reforms in the proposal, especially those relating to drug pricing and coverage expansion. The plan comes after key House Democrats laid out their intentions to include drug pricing reforms in infrastructure legislation regardless of whether the President pushed to do so. The only healthcare policy directly outlined in the plan is a $200 billion investment to make permanent the two-year advanced premium tax credits to individuals who purchase insurance on the Marketplace, which were established in the American Rescue Plan. It remains to be seen if congressional Democrats will pick up the President’s proposal as is, or continue to push for the inclusion of broader healthcare policies in this legislative effort.
