Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of D.C. Diagnosis. Your author is still embarrassingly proud of his #healthpolicyvalentine. He’s also struck by both the House and Senate’s upcoming hearings on why vaccinations are important. As always, send tips and other comments my way: nicholas.florko@statnews.com. 

What would FDR think about drug prices?

The Roosevelt Institute, the New York-based think tank tasked with “carry[ing] forward the legacy and values of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt” (and which boasts liberal luminaries like Joseph Stiglitz and Jonathan Soros as fellows) is planning a series of reports on drug pricing, the first of which is set to drop tomorrow.

They’re hoping their work will “connect the dots between the problems with today’s pharmaceutical industry and the economic policies that structure and shape it,” Katy Milani, a Roosevelt Institute fellow and one of the report’s authors, told STAT.

While Roosevelt is by no means the first think tank to wade into drug pricing policy (I’m looking at you AEI, CAP, and Brookings), the institute does have the ear of progressive policymakers in Washington who may look to these new reports for legislative ideas.

“We want policymakers and advocates to have the tools they need to advance solutions that improve affordability, accessibility, and innovation, which requires shifting the public’s understanding of the economic rules that are driving Big Pharma’s profit-seeking behavior,” Milani added.