Senate HELP Committee Moves Closer to Creating Corollary to 21st Century Cures

Last week, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee approved a series of seven bills to work up medical innovation legislation that will eventually likely become the Committee's response to the 21st Century Cures Act passed by the House of Representatives. Last month, HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander of Tennessee estimated that the Senate's version will not mirror the House bill, and that the Senate's effort will focus on priorities that are identified by the Committee's members, such as improving federal electronic health record programs. Last week's productive meeting was not the last meeting for the Committee on this topic, either. The panel is set to consider approximately twenty pieces of innovation-related legislation, and there are meetings set for March 9, 2016, and April 6, 2016. During Chairman Alexander's opening statement last week, we saw a preview of his expectations for the process of how to move the innovation bills through the panel all the way to the Senate floor. He emphasized the bipartisan nature of the fifty proposals included in the twenty bills, and that he would personally ensure that consideration of each proposal would include an opportunity for debate and open amendment. Chairman Alexander is hoping that he can work to create a consensus on the measures while they are in the Senate panel, holding off the contentious debates until they reach the Senate floor. The Advancing Targeted Therapies for Rare Diseases...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs