Five for five: MTM survives in all HCR bills
Senate Finance Committee approves legislation in barely bipartisan
vote; action now moves to merger of various bills for floor votes.
The broad grin on Montana Democrat Max Baucus’s face said it
all, as his Senate Finance Committee this afternoon became the fifth and
final Congressional panel to approve health care reform (HCR)
legislation. The panel’s chair, Baucus was able to hold all
Democratic votes on the committee (some were upset that the public
option was not included) while attracting one Republican vote, that of
Maine’s Olympia Snowe. The final tally was 14–9 is favor of
the bill.
Pharmacy advocates are celebrating the fact that medication therapy
management (MTM) is included in some form in both Senate bills and three
bills that are being merged in the House of Representatives. The
strongest MTM provisions are contained in identical language in the
Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension bill and the bill that came
out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
If those MTM provisions remain in the language that comes up for
floor votes, pharmacy will be in prime position to maintain them during
the all-important conference committee discussions that would ensue.
Earlier in the year, before a rocky August recess, Democrats had set
an October 15 deadline for final passage of HCR legislation. That
deadline is out the window. The timeframe for final action is now more
along the lines of year’s end.
Related resources on www.pharmacist.com
Related resources on the Web:
L. Michael Posey, BPharm (mposey)
Posted October 13, 2009, 5:30 pm EDT
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