Don’t bet on CREATES becoming law too soon

It’s unlikely that the CREATES Act, the bill meant to spur generic competition, is going anywhere in short order. And Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee likely has a big part to play in that delay. While the bill was reintroduced last week with a slew of bipartisan support, proponents tell me Alexander, who chairs the Senate HELP Committee, has raised concerns with the legislation.

While advocates maintain the bill could pass the Senate, they recognize that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) won’t bring the bill up for a standalone vote unless it’s virtually guaranteed to pass, and objections from high-profile lawmakers like Alexander could dissuade McConnell from bringing the bill up for a vote.  “Each senator is a king, so I think folks like Alexander … are going to prove to be a challenge,” one lobbyist told me. 

That means the bill likely won’t move until there’s a must-pass spending bill, which CREATES can be used to pay for. So when are we likely to see movement? Probably not until a deal is reached on either raising the government’s budget caps or the debt limit.