House Energy and Commerce Committee Releases Second Version of 21st Century Cures Draft
On April 29, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations released the second iteration of the Committee’s 21st Century Cures bill (see Update, February 24, 2015). The latest draft is a collaborative effort by Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI), Ranking Member Diana DeGette (D-CO), Energy and Commerce 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).
The new version of the discussion draft would authorize the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for three years (FY 2016 through FY 2018), and increase its funding level by $1.5 billion each year. It also creates an NIH Innovation Fund for FY 2016 through FY 2020, financed by a mandatory appropriation of $2 billion a year. The Innovation Fund would be used to support precision medicine, young emerging investigators, and other priorities yet to be identified.
The section-by-section summary of the discussion draft is available online here. A one-page summary is available online here.