Congress is projected to consider the 21st Century Cures Act this week, which aims to promote biomedical research, but may also impose less stringent reporting requirements concerning industry payments to physicians, according to ProPublica.
Here are five things to know:
1. The 966-page bill features provisions that would lessen various requirements imposed under the 2010 Physician Payments Sunshine Act. The act mandates drug and device companies to publicly report essentially any payment made to physicians, whether that be consulting fees or gifts. Such payments are documented on the Open Payments' website as well as ProPublica's Dollars for Docs tool.
2. The Cures Act would not require pharmaceutical or device companies to disclose the value of textbooks and medical journal reprints that they provided to physicians. Additionally, they would not have to report payments for continuing medical education courses.
3. Thomas Sullivan, president of Columbia, Md.-based Rockpointe Corp., which provides CME courses to providers, supports the act, saying its goal "is simply to make it a little bit more clear that things that are for education, which really falls into the free speech clause of the Constitution, aren't reported on," ProPublica reported.
4. Those opposed to weakening the provisions say transparency is necessary, especially as patients pay more for their healthcare. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), who played an integral role in writing the SunShine Act, told ProPublica, "With taxpayers and patients paying billions of dollars for prescription drugs and medical devices, and prices exploding, disclosure of company payments to doctors makes more sense than ever."
5. The House is slated to consider the bill today, Nov. 30, 2016, with the Senate taking the bill under consideration after the House.