Healthcare Reform Bill with Senator Harkin
Posted on Fri, May 21, 2010 @ 09:41 AM
By Denise Hutchins, Executive Director of Life Sciences
Triumvirate Environmental was fortunate enough to host an intimate discussion with a handful of life sciences industry leaders and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) during his most recent Massachusetts visit. Senator Harkin took over for the late Senator Kennedy as Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in 2009, and also serves as Chairman of the Appropriations Sub-committee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. Senator Harkin is uniquely situated as both the primary author of health sciences policy, and the point person for allocating funds in that area.
We talked with the Senator about the healthcare reform bill and its creation. We also discussed important issues surrounding:
- the cost of pharmaceutical development and its resale cost to the consumer;
- changing the last Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) interpretation of the eligibility requirements and expanding the eligibility requirements to allow companies to participate that would otherwise be excluded due to the individual ownership requirement.
- increasing the appropriation of $1 billion for tax years 2009 and 2010 in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. Available tax credits/grants are set aside for small- and mid-sized biotech, pharmaceutical and medical device companies that meet the criteria and apply.