Obama Expected To Sign Legislation That Had Broad Bipartisan Support
In a last-minute show of bipartisan cooperation before adjourning for the year, the New York Times reports that the US Senate has voted 94-5 to pass the 21st Century Cures Act, which would change the Food and Drug Administration drug approval process and also increase funding for mental healthcare, drug addiction treatment, and biomedical research. The measure “would benefit people with mental illness and chronic diseases, biomedical researchers, pregnant women, hospitals, children with diabetes, people addicted to opioid drugs, children who are bullied, and those who are gravely ill,” the Times says. The Los Angeles Times reports Public Citizen’s Health Research Group criticized the bill describing it as “a grab bag of goodies for Big Pharma and medical device companies that would undermine requirements for ensuring safe and effective drugs and medical devices.” The Wall Street Journal reports the bill aims to speed up the FDA approval process for drugs and medical devices in part by giving the agency more leniency in regards to what kinds of evidence it can consider in the approval process. Reuters reports the bill also authorizes $500 million in funding for the FDA, $4.8 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health, and $1 billion in funding to address the opioid epidemic. Politico reports the bill also provides funding to continue the cancer moonshot initiative.
What Happens Next
Congressional Quarterly reports that President Obama has said he will sign the bill as soon as he receives it, meaning the odds that it will become a law by year’s end are high.
What This Means For Small Businesses
Small businesses involved in the healthcare sector may benefit from Congressional action to prioritize health industry research. Additionally, the measure was a rare display of overwhelming bipartisanship in Congress, an encouraging sign to small business owners looking for Congress to work together to get its job done.
Additional Reading
Additional coverage on the measure is provided by outlets including the Washington Post, the AP, The Hill, another article in Politico, USA Today, CNN, and U.S. News & World Report.
Note: this article is intended to keep small business owners up on the latest news. It does not necessarily represent the policy stances of NFIB.
