A bill signed by President Barack Obama recently is looking to bring medical breakthroughs and tackle some of the largest health challenges facing Americans.

Now a law, the 21st Century Cures Act will speed up the federal review process while reducing bureaucracy needed to approve new medical treatment options.

The bill dedicates $5 billion for National Institutes of Health for targeted medical research and $500 million for the Food and Drug Administration to speed up the approval process for medicine and treatment options. Legislation also funds state efforts to prevent and treat opioid abuse.

The bill, signed last week by the president, was supported overwhelmingly by members in the House and Senate. During the 2016 State of the Union address, Obama said they promised to deliver bipartisan action on the opioid epidemic while putting Vice President Joe Biden in charge of the cancer “moonshot” initiative to accelerate research.

“We are bringing into reality the possibility of new breakthroughs to some of the greatest health challenges of our time,” Obama said. “Over the last eight years, my highest priority has been to release the full force of American innovation to our biggest challenges. It meant restoring science to its rightful place. It meant funding research and development that’s kept America on the cutting edge. It meant investing in medical breakthroughs.”

Supporting the bill in the House, U.S. Rep. Tom Reed said innovation and focusing on the resources needed to help people should be encouraged. Reed said the bill provides relief to rural hospitals by lessening the federal financial penalties in Medicaid payments when patients have to be readmitted to the institution for care. The current provisions place an often unmanageable financial burden on hospitals in rural and poorer areas.

“We remain committed to ensuring access to quality health care. Driving innovation forward will help get costs in check and get better, faster treatments to those in need of care. This bill is a win-win,” Reed said.

As supporters in the Senate, U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., say the bill will prioritize research, vaccine development and treatment strategies to help stamp out tick-borne diseases including Lyme disease.

Gillibrand had introduced a bill in the Senate to tackle Lyme and tick-borne diseases. Provisions within legislation were included in the new law.

“This is an important advancement to help combat the growing epidemic of Lyme disease,” Gillibrand said. “Our families should be able to enjoy nature without the fear of possibly contracting this disease.”

Though curable, Lyme disease is difficult to detect. Symptoms are similar to the common flu.

Before the Cures Act, Schumer had long pushed for federal funding for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease, which sees an increase in cases across New York state every year.

“We have to bring Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses out of the weeds so residents can enjoy their own backyards without fearing for the health and safety of their children and families,” Schumer said.