#TBT: Landmark Legislation To Fight Disease

     On December 13th, 2016, Barack Obama signed a piece of legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support that would prove to be the most significant investment made by the federal government into the research and prevention of disease in modern history. The 21st Century Cures Act provided a total of $6.3 billion in federal funding to numerous areas, mostly the National Institute of Health.

     The law built upon the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, which was the first federal investment in addiction treatment in 40 years, by providing $1 billion in grants to states toward increasing monitoring of prescription drugs, expanding access to treatment programs, and hiring addiction-trained healthcare professionals.

     The law also sped up FDA approval of prescription drugs and introduced targeted funding for rare diseases. Informed consent was eased to allow more people to receive healthcare treatment, $1.5 billion was given to fund brain disease (accomplishing a personal goal of the Obama White House), and Vice President Joe Biden succeeded in securing an astonishing $1.8 billion in funding for cancer research. The latter initiative was named the "Beau Biden Cancer Moonshot" in honor of Biden's deceased son, who had recently passed away from brain cancer.

     Equally as significant was the incorporation of the Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act, which provided funding for more beds in psychiatric hospitals and appointed an administrator in charge of formulating mental health and substance abuse policy.