Research!America, a health care lobbying organization, is urging the new Congress to take action on five priorities in the first 100 days of the legislative session.
Four of them are related to science and health. One, end sequestration, is political and never going to happen. Though Democrats advocated ending filibuster's when they had control of the Senate, they are not going to give up the President's power to shut down the government, as he did in 2012 when he proposed sequestration. Democrats were shocked when Republicans accepted the idea but they won't be taken by surprise again.
The four priorities are to increase funding for our nation's research agencies, which have been static during the Obama presidency except for issues like solar subsidies and Ebola, advance the 21st Century Cures initiative, which is spearheaded by Representatives Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and seeks to modernize the onerous clinical trials process and get pharmaceutical companies producing more new drugs, repeal the medical device tax, and enact a permanent and enhanced R&D tax credit.
The medical device tax, which Democrats put into the president's Affordable Care Act, has gained bipartisan repeal support as policymakers and industry leaders raise concerns about the tax's impact on jobs and innovation. According to a study commissioned by the Advanced Medical Technology Association, approximately 33,000 jobs were lost in the first year after implementation of the 2.3 percent tax. The Affordable Care Act was positioned by proponents as a financial boon for the medical device industry, so the tax was going to be offset by all of the new products sold, but that did not happen, nor have insurers gotten more revenue.
The R&D tax credit, which was extended for one year in December, should be enhanced and made permanent as part of a broader tax reform legislative package in 2015, according to the lobbyists. The credit, established in 1981, allows companies to deduct certain research expenses, but the short-term extensions have created uncertainty for businesses that rely on long-term planning for research investments.
"For companies ready to push the boundaries of medical innovation, our tax policies continue to set up roadblocks," said Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America. "Declining funding for science agencies, counterproductive tax policies and the enervating impact of long-term sequestration caps have combined to undercut progress in meeting health challenges. If policymakers care about patients and the fiscal health of this nation, they will put more muscle behind efforts to overcome Alzheimer's, cancer and other disabling, deadly and budget-busting health threats. The new Congress must tackle tax reform in the immediate future to create a more favorable R&D environment for American industry."
Sequestration is an annual automatic budget cut established as part of the 2011 Budget Control Act, designed to force lawmakers to act or have cuts be done on their own. But science has been made political theater, since the president can hand-pick what does not get cut. He kept hundreds of White House maids, cleaners and cooks as 'essential' while leaving only security guards and one experiment at the National Science Foundation. And shut off the Smithsonian Panda Cam. Though scientists have remained devoted to Democrats despite that, it is clear that won't last if they continue to be a political football. A two-year bipartisan budget deal for FY14 and FY15 reduced the cuts for those years, but the full sequester returns in FY16 - a presidential election year, when President Obama is unlikely to fight for a budget.
"Because of the completely arbitrary sequestration budget cuts, our ability to fight the next Ebola outbreak - through medical research, vaccine development and local preparedness - is one of many potential threats to health that we just aren't ready for," added Woolley. "This isn't a minor hiccup, it's a major gap in our national security infrastructure. Congress must lift the sequester and invest in the research and capacity building necessary to truly protect public health."
The National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received razor thin increases, less than 1 percent, in the FY15 spending bill. The National Science Foundation and the Food and Drug Administration fared slightly better with increases of 2.4 percent and 1.4 percent respectively. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality was cut by .08 percent. Between 2001 and 2011, the U.S. experienced a substantial decline in its share of global R&D investments relative to other countries.
According to the National Science Board, Asia's major economies combined now account for a larger share of scientific investment.
Source: http://www.researchamerica.org.