The U.S. House of Representatives approved the 21st Century Cures Act by a vote of 392 to 26, according to a release from the American Gastroenterological Association.
Here's what you need to know.
1. The bill, H.R. 34, provides $6.3 billion in funding to the National Institutes of Health and the FDA. It would fully fund the NIH through 2020 and would dedicate $4.7 billion for several programs including the Cancer Moonshot Initiative, the Precision Medicine Initiative and the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative.
2. The bill moves to the Senate, which could vote on it as early as next week.
3. The bill streamlines the approval process for medical devices, and encourages young people to pursue careers in research through loan repayment incentives in addition to the funding component.
4. Under the bill, those physicians who treat Medicare patients at surgery centers will be exempt from the penalties associated with the EHR Incentives Programs under the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment Systems.
The provision will remain in place until three years after the HHS Secretary deems an EHR compliant for the ASC setting.
5. The American Gastroenterological Association called the bill's passage "a major victory for the research and innovation community."