While the House is not in session this week, the Senate returns after a two-week recess.
Health care floor action is slow, but the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) meets Wednesday to conclude a three-part markup of its medical innovation package. The package, which includes 19 bills to date, serves as a complement to the 21st Century Cures bill that passed the House last year. HELP Committee Chair Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has said he hopes the final Senate “Innovation” package can go to the floor for a vote before the end of the year.
The list of bills being considered for the package include:
- NIH Strategic Plan and Inclusion in Clinical Research
- Promoting Biomedical Research and Public Health for Patients Act
- FDA and NIH Workforce Authorities Modernization Act (S 2700)
- Promise for Antibiotics and Therapeutics for Health Act (S 185)
- Advancing Precision Medicine Act of 2016 (S 2713)
- Advancing Hope Act of 2015 (S 1878)
- Advancing Breakthrough Medical Devices for Patients Act of 2015 (S 1077)
- Medical Electronic Data Technology Enhancement for Consumer’s Health (MEDTECH) Act (S 1101)
- Medical Countermeasures Innovation Act of 2015 (S 2055)
- Combination Product Regulatory Fairness Act of 2015 (S 1767)
- Patient Focused Impact Assessment Act of 2015 (S 1597)
- Adding Zika to the Priority Review Voucher Program Act (S 2512)
- Advancing Targeted Therapies for Rare Diseases Act of 2015 (S 2030)>
- FDA Device Accountability Act of 2015 (S 1622)
- Next Generation Researchers Act (S 2014)
- Enhancing the Stature and Visibility of Medical Rehabilitation Research at NIH Act (S 800)
- Advancing Research for Neurological Diseases Act of 2015 (S 849)
- Preventing Superbugs and Protecting Patients Act (S 2503)
- Improving Health Information Technology Act (S 2511)