Taxpayer-funded medical research is gaining bipartisan support

One theory for why this area of health care has been supported by Republicans and Democrats: “the charisma of the cure, the hope and promise of curing disease, seems to excite members of Congress,” Anthony J. Mazzaschi, a lobbyist at the national organization representing schools of public health, told NYT.

Battle lines: Although there's bipartisan support for taxpayer-funded medical research, their views on health care are still an issue. Repealing the Affordable Care Act would almost inevitably limit people's access to these new treatments discovered through cutting-edge medical research. As Representative Jan Schakowsky, Democrat of Illinois told NYT: “If we are spending billions to incentivize the development of new drugs, I think we also have to ensure that patients can afford those drugs. It is almost cruel to find a cure and then have it priced so high that a patient can’t afford it.”