AFT’s Weingarten on Passage of the 21st Century Cures Act

WASHINGTON— Following the Senate’s 94-5 vote in favor of passage of the 21st Century Cures Act, AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement:

“The 21st Century Cures Act takes much-needed steps to address some of today’s most acute public health challenges, and its best attributes will make a real difference in people’s lives. We applaud efforts to address the heroin and prescription opioid crisis, improve mental health care, and support the vice president’s Cancer Moonshot and the president’s initiatives on biomedical research, precision medicine and brain research.

“We are concerned, however, that funding for these critical initiatives is dependent on the incoming Congress, whose conservative members have made their antipathy toward public health clear through pledges to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, radically change Medicaid, and turn Medicare into a private voucher program. We are also deeply concerned that the 21st Century Cures Act reduces funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which would leave many people at risk.

“We are further concerned with language that alters the Food and Drug Administration approval process and may put patients at risk. More broadly, changes to the FDA cannot be seen as a fix to the rising cost of prescription drugs. While we applaud this bipartisan movement on opioid abuse, medical research and mental health, Congress must do more to ensure that families and communities have access to safe and affordable health services and prescription drugs.”