Rep. Upton Retires After Leading Historic Cancer Care Legislation
U.S. Representative Fred Upton (R-MI) announced (https://upton.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402017) that he would not seek another term in the U.S. Congress during his April 2022 House of Representatives floor remarks. In November 2021, Upton and his colleagues introduced (https://upton.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=401842) the Cures 2.0 Act (https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6000/text), which created the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (APRA-H) dedicated to finding and researching a cure for cancer.
Upton highlighted (https://upton.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402017) his work on advocating for patients with cancer and Cures 2.0 during his remarks: “As chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, a huge highlight was 21st Century Cures. Hailed as the most important piece of legislation passed in that Congress, it laid the foundation for Operation Warp Speed and faster drug approvals including the first vaccine Pfizer produced in Kalamazoo. Now, once again with my partner Diana DeGette, we’re pursuing Cures 2.0 with all the disease and patient advocates who joined us on Cures.”
Cures 2.0 was designed to revolutionize how the United States provides care to patients through provisions aimed at speeding up the delivery of new cures, treatments, and innovations for patients. Its role in the creation of ARPA-H has provided a step in the right direction of ending cancer, diabetes, ALS, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases.
In addition, the Cures 2.0 legislation (https://upton.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=401842):
- Transformed how Medicare covered innovative new treatments and technologies to make discoveries available to patients sooner
- Increased access to telehealth services for Medicare and Medicaid recipients
- Provided training and educational programs for at-home caregivers with no prior healthcare experience
- Increased diversity in clinical trials to ensure new drugs and treatments approved for use in the United States are safe and effective for a greater portion of the population
- Provided patients more information about their illness and treatment options
- Conducted a national study of COVID-19’s implications and developed a testing and vaccine distribution strategy for future pandemics
“Even the best of stories has a last chapter. This is it for me,” Upton said (https://upton.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=402017). “Thanks again to the people of my district who placed their faith and confidence in me all these years.”