WEDNESDAY, Dec. 7, 2016 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Congress has passed sweeping bipartisan health care legislation intended to expand medical research and speed up approval of new drugs and medical devices.
The $6.3 billion bill, called the 21st Century Cures Act, is a complex grab bag of initiatives amounting to nearly 1,000 pages that President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law.
In a statement released Wednesday, Obama signaled his support for the bill.
“We are now one step closer to ending cancer as we know it, unlocking cures for diseases like Alzheimer’s, and helping people seeking treatment for opioid addiction finally get the help they need,” he said. “This bill will make a big difference, and I look forward to signing it as soon as it reaches my desk.”
The Senate passed the bill today by a vote of 94-5, and the House passed an almost identical version on Dec. 1, at 392-26.
The bill contains $4.8 billion in spending over 10 years for new research at the National Institutes of Health, including:
$1.8 billion for the cancer research “moonshot” championed by Vice President Joe Biden. $1.56 billion for the BRAIN Initiative, a project to create new technologies that will allow for comprehensive mapping of the human brain. $1.4 billion for the Precision Medicine Initiative, a project supported by Obama to collect genetic data on one million American volunteers that will be used to help develop new treatments.The bill authorizes the NIH to finance high-risk, high-reward research using special procurement procedures, rather than through conventional grants and contracts, The New York Times reports. The agency also will establish “Eureka prize” competitions to advance medical research.
The nation’s prescription drug abuse crisis also is addressed in the legislation. States will receive grants worth $1 billion over the next two years for drug abuse prevention and treatment programs.
New positions at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be established to coordinate mental health and substance abuse research and treatment.
Share this Post