Washington Debrief: Senate Committee Moves Ahead with Medical Innovation Legislation, Including Health IT

Senate Committee Moves Ahead with Medical Innovation Legislation, Including Health IT and Precision Medicine Bills

Key Takeaway: Last week the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) wrapped-up committee-level discussions on the Innovation for Healthier Americans initiative, which included proposals to advance precision medicine and improve nationwide interoperability, sending the package of bills to the Senate floor for consideration.

Why It Matters: In 2015, the Senate HELP Committee held six hearings on health information technology and a series of markups resulting in the consideration of 19 legislative proposals as part of the Innovation for Healthier Americans initiative.

Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) has said that the Committee is still working to reach bipartisan agreement to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which has been a top priority for Democrats’ in their consideration of the package of legislation. Committee leadership is hopeful that a funding agreement can be reached quickly in order to bring the 19 bills to the floor along with more mandatory funding for NIH in April.  For the full article click here 

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