U.S. Senate and House negotiators have nearly finalized legislation that would increase funding for the National Institutes of Health, boost financial support to states for opioid-addiction treatment and improve access to mental health treatment, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The House is scheduled to vote on some version of the bill, which lawmakers are calling the 21st Century Cures Act, as soon as Wednesday.
Republican committee chairmen released what they called a "final" version of the bill on Saturday. However, people close to the talks said there are still major provisions to be finalized, especially those regarding FDA regulation of drugs and devices, according to the report. One of these sources told The Wall Street Journal the emerging deal could still fall apart.
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., on Saturday said the $6.3 billion bill would provide the NIH with up to $4.8 billion in additional funding over 10 years. It would also support other medical research projects, such as Vice President Joe Biden's cancer moonshot.
Over the same time period, the bill would also provide $500 million in new funding for the FDA and provide $1 billion in grants to states to deal with the opioid crisis and expand access to mental health treatment, according to the report.
The money that would be allocated to the NIH is just over half of the $8.75 billion originally passed by the House in 2015 in a bill that died on the Senate floor, also called the 21st Century Cures Act.
For the full report, click here.