Nelson Quoted on SCOTUS ACA Ruling to Determine Future Pathway to Biosimilars Approval

Partner Kevin Nelson was quoted on the potential future of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn the Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) under which the BPCIA was created.

The Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on whether the individual mandate portion of the ACA is severable from the entire statute.

Kevin said, “The smart thing to do would be a severability determination. Some of the amicus briefs have talked about that opportunity and emphasized how the BPCIA is a really a standalone provision and is not intertwined with the ACA. The responsible thing would be to segregate the BPCIA regardless of what you do with the ACA.”

He added that the Court seems primed to follow this course of action.

“There is a tradition on the Supreme Court of not striking down more of a statute than it needs to,” he said. “The Supreme Court is not Congress. It has acknowledged that time and again. It’s not about rewriting laws. It’s about determining what’s constitutional and what’s not.”

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