Bilirakis Racked Up More Legislative Wins In the Final Days of the Year

Washington, D.C.: As the final days of the 117^thCongress drew to a close, U.S. Congressman kept his foot on the gas, ensuring that many of his important legislative priorities made it across the finish line.  In total, eight more provisions co-authored by Bilirakis to improve healthcare and expand benefits for Veterans were signed into law.  These measures are outlined below:

• The Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment in the Emergency Department Act will help to standardize the suicide screening tools used in emergency rooms. Since 2001, the suicide rate in the United States has risen by a shocking 31%, making suicide the 10th leading cause of death in the nation, with an estimated 47,000 lives lost each year.  “These staggering statistics make it clear that we need improved methods for identifying and assessing the suicide risks of emergency department patients," said Bilirakis. "As part of my long-term commitment to fixing our broken mental health care system, I want to be sure that we enhance the procedures surrounding the discharge of patients who have attempted suicide or exhibit suicidal ideation to maximize the likelihood that they obtain appropriate follow-up care. These provisions enacted into law are the first step towards making that happen.”
• The Opioid Prescription Verification Act will strengthen electronic prescribing and verification practices at pharmacies and build off of the work that Bilirakis did in the SUPPORT Act to improve the use of electronic Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs across the health care system. “This practical step puts additional safeguards in place in order to help curb opioid abuse and save lives,” stated Bilirakis.

• The Protecting the Integrity of our Biomedical Research Act combats the Chinese Communist Party’s ugly record of stealing intellectual property and exploiting cutting-edge American research for its own gain by requiring disclosure of participation in foreign talent programs, including providing related documents to Health and Human Services, as a condition of receiving NIH grant funding. “We must safeguard our research to protect our national security and global leadership,”said Bilirakis.“This new law is an important step forward to establish accountability for the use of taxpayer dollars and prevention of undue foreign influence in biomedical research.”
• The Pediatric Device Consortia Program Reauthorization Act will advance the development of pediatric medical devices by reauthorizing the Pediatric Device Consortia (PDC) grant program and extending the Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) incentive pathway.  These programs provide additional opportunities to improve the number of medical devices in pediatric populations. “Manufacturing devices specifically made for pediatric patients have presented unique challenges and innovation has not kept pace with those developed for adults, leaving many children with rare diseases without devices that appropriately meet their individual needs,” Bilirakis added.  “Our bill will help address this shortage by continuing to incentivize the development of child-specific medical devices that account for variables like size and body chemistry. By reauthorizing these successful pediatric and humanitarian device programs, we are taking an important step forward in ensuring that our youngest Americans have access to high quality health care.”
• The Orphan Drug Grant Program Reauthorization Act will reauthorize the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Orphan Drug Grant Program for another five years.  This program funds studies that address knowledge gaps, support clinical trials and advance rare disease medical product development.  “With these important measures to reauthorize and expand the Orphan Drug Grant Program, we will facilitate the continued research and development of treatments and acceleration of cures for the more than 30 million people in the U.S. with rare diseases or conditions,” noted Bilirakis.
• The Predetermined Change Control Plans for Devices Act will authorize the FDA to efficiently apply predetermined change control plans for approved medical devices, allowing innovative devices, particularly devices that utilize artificial intelligence, to update faster and more efficiently.  This critical bill removes bureaucratic red tape and allows technologies to grow at a faster pace and continually improve treatments on the market for patients.  “Medical devices are increasingly more complex with technology, and the FDA must remove bureaucracy to ensure approved treatments on the market stay up-to-date with the times.  These provisions will help innovators have the regulatory certainty needed to advance treatments and cures,” stated Bilirakis.
• The Col. James Floyd Turner IV U.S.M.C. GI Bill Transfer Act will ensure the transfer of GI Bill benefits to a surviving family member when a Veteran has died prior to completing the benefit transfer process.  “I’ve named this bill after retired Colonel Jim Turner, a resident of Clearwater, who died before completing the process of transferring his GI Bill benefits to his daughter.   His daughter has not been able to use her father’s benefits as he intended.  I’m relieved that this problem will finally be rectified,” added Bilirakis.  
• The portions of the Speeding Therapy Access Today (STAT) Act that were just signed into law will help accelerate development of therapies across the spectrum of rare diseases and disorders, and better facilitate patient access to such therapies. “While I remain committed to advancing the entirety of the STAT Act, these provisions are a promising step in the right direction,” said Bilirakis.