Since it was unanimously passed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May, the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Initiative, co-authored by Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), remains an active and important segment of the ongoing legislative agenda.
The 21st Century Cures Act was designed to modernize and personalize health care, while encouraging greater innovation, supporting research and streamlining the system – all in an effort to ultimately deliver better, more efficient cures to more patients in a shorter time. Throughout the entire legislative process, the bill has seen continued support from influential individuals and organizations.
In addition to Upton, it was co-authored by Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO), full committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Health Subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts (R-PA), and Health Subcommittee Ranking Member Gene Green (D-TX).
Upton wrote in a Time magazine op-ed piece last summer that there are more than 10,000 known serious diseases, but only about 500 treatments.
“(The hope is) that with this bill we can deliver the right weapons to win the battle against cancer, Alzheimer’s and other diseases that affect millions of Americans,” Upton wrote. “The bill would deliver $10 billion to the National Institutes of Health, in addition to reauthorizing the NIH for three years and providing additional resources to the Food and Drug Administration. This much-needed funding would breathe new life into many areas of invaluable medical research at the NIH as well as our universities. Research that may have been sidelined might have a new opportunity. And with more research comes more hope.”
The 21st Century Cures legislation and its intentions are surrounded by positivity, but it must overcome several challenges before it makes it to the president’s desk. First, there are procedural complications. Due to the breadth of the bill, multiple committees share jurisdiction over it. The Senate is another obstacle on the way to final passage.
In public meetings, Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) has stated that the Senate is planning to consider its own bill and that the end of 2016 is a more realistic goal for its final passage. Burr and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) have launched their own initiative directed at accelerating cures, but even Upton himself admits that moving his bill completely through the upper chamber will be a challenge.
“This marks a big bipartisan step forward on our path to cures,” Upton said following the committee’s passage of the plan. “We have all said too many early goodbyes to people we love and treasure. Every single person has a common goal: we want more time with those we love. In this, the greatest country in the world, Americans deserve a system second to none. We can and must do better. The time for 21st Century Cures is now.”