MEDICAL RESEARCH: ADMINISTRATION TARGETS CANCER
Vice President Al Gore yesterday announced that the WhiteThis is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
House wants to increase funding for cancer research by $4.7
billion (or 65%) over five years, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The vice president also said the Clinton administration will
propose "expansion of Medicare benefits for cancer patients"
(Gerstenzang, 1/30). Although the added funding for cancer
research will go to the National Institutes of Health at large,
nearly 90% of the funds will be earmarked for the National Cancer
Institute. According to the administration, the increase in
funding has the potential to improve early detection and
diagnoses of cancer; speed the research and development of new
cancer drugs; increase adult participation in clinical trials and
provide all cancer patients with cutting-edge information on
treating the disease (release, 1/29). We're "right on the verge
of a whole new phase in this war," Gore said. The
AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Health and Human Services
Secretary Donna Shalala said the added funding "should allow NIH
to fund about one-third of the approved research applications it
receives" (Meckler, 1/30).
LARGER INCREASES
Last year, Clinton asked for only a two percent increase in
funding for NIH. For next year, the president has proposed a
$1.15 billion increase, or an eight percent jump. In addition,
Clinton is asking for a 50% increase for the NIH over five years.
Clinton is "counting on revenue" from $368.5 global tobacco
settlement to fund the increase, "despite its shaky prospects on
Capitol Hill." However, the AP/Baltimore Sun reports that
prospects for more biomedical research funding are good because
Congress "usually propose[s] spending more money than the
president requests." Sen. Connie Mack (R-FL) said, "We are
united in our effort to get the resources into the hands of the
researchers." However, he asked, "Where are we going to find the
money?" (1/30).
MEDICARE FUNDING
Gore unveiled the administration's proposal to expand
Medicare benefits to pay all medical expenses of beneficiaries
"who participate in clinical trials for cancer treatments as a
part of a new demonstration project." The $750 million cost of
the program would be underwritten by the global tobacco
settlement "and would be kept separate from the regular Medicare
program." Under the project, Medicare beneficiaries accepted for
inclusion "in clinical trials sponsored by the [NIH] would have
all associated medical and hospital bills paid by Medicare" (Los
Angeles Times, 1/30). The Friends of Cancer Research yesterday
praised the Clinton administration's proposal, saying it is "a
significant step forward in the fight to eliminate cancer. ...
There are promising new therapies that aren't being tested simply
because we don't have the resources" (release, 1/29).
TAX CREDIT
Gore traveled to California yesterday to tout other
scientific research initiatives, including the administration's
proposal for a $31 billion increase in funding for "three key
federal science agencies" (Los Angeles Times, 1/3). The $31
billion increase was touted by President Clinton in his State of
the Union speech; it would go toward the "creation of a ... 21st
Century Research Fund to support civilian research programs."
Gore also announced that the administration will support a $2.2
billion tax credit for the high-tech industry, the
San Francisco Chronicle reports. Gore made the announcement at
the offices of Genentech (Wildermouth, 1/30). First enacted in
1981, the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit "allows
companies a 20% tax credit based on the increase in a firm's
research and development," the San Jose Mercury News reports
(Trounstine, 1/30).
BILL INTRODUCED
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), the chair of the Senate
Appropriations subcommittee on labor, HHS and education,
yesterday introduced a resolution calling for $2 billion more in
funding for the NIH. Specter said, "The NIH is the crown jewel
of the federal government, and has responded well to a steady
increase in funding which it has received during my tenure in the
Senate. ... During that time, the NIH has produced some really
extraordinary research advances on research into Alzheimer's,
AIDS and breast cancer. Now, all this needs to be pressed
forward to see what exactly can be accomplished in the next
century" (release, 1/30).
ALZHEIMER'S FUNDING
Federal officials yesterday told a House panel that
"[f]unding for Alzheimer's research should be increased
immediately, before millions of aging baby boomers begin showing
symptoms of the disease and draining Medicare and Medicaid
funds." The Washington Times reports that Alzheimer's "may have
a devastating effect on the health care system," because Medicare
spends 70% more on Alzheimer's patients than on other
beneficiaries. NIH funding for Alzheimer's research "more than
doubled in the early 1990s," but leveled off after 1992 (Larson,
1/30).