Pelosi, House Democrats introduce final HCR bill—including
MTM
Affordable Health Care for America Act blends previous House bills;
expected to reach House floor late next week.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and colleagues took to the
steps of the U.S. Capitol this morning to announce the introduction of
the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962). Among the many
provisions of the act is one creating grants for medication therapy
management (MTM) services provided by licensed pharmacists as part of a
“collaborative, multidisciplinary, interprofessional approach to
the treatment of chronic diseases.”
Pelosi announced the completion of the House health care reform (HCR)
bill, which blends features of the three bills previously passed by
House committees, as “follow[ing] in the footsteps of those who
brought us Social Security and then Medicare.” The bill, Pelosi
said, would cover 96% of Americans, including 36 million who are
currently uninsured. She also lauded the bill for “promoting
prevention and wellness across the health system”; the bill would
create a Prevention and Wellness Trust fund providing $34 billion over
the next 10 years for preventive care.
While the presence of an MTM provision is of particular interest to
pharmacists, there are many other noteworthy features. Some of the
provisions that would take effect immediately upon the passage of the
bill include initial steps toward closing the Medicare Part D
“donut” hole, the introduction of an interim high-risk pool
for the uninsured to be used until the implementation of a health care
exchange, and bans on lifetime coverage limits and rescissions.
According to documents provided by Pelosi’s office, the bill will
reduce the deficit by at least $30 billion over the first 10 years. As
requested by President Barack Obama, the bill has a total cost of less
than $900 billion, Pelosi said.
Representative John Dingell (D-MI), whose father introduced a
national health insurance bill in 1933, said the bill would “give
everyone peace of mind of knowing that they have access to real health
insurance.” Brandishing the gavel he himself used while presiding
over the house in 1965 during the passage of Medicare, he urged rapid
passage, describing further delays as “quite frankly
intolerable.”
The bill has been made available online through the House Committee
on Rules. Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Committee Chairman,
announced in a news release that the bill is scheduled for hearing and
markup next week. The final Senate bill, and the status of MTM in that
document, is still pending; however, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)
has said the final legislation will be based on the bills proposed by
the Finance Committee and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension
Committee. Both of these documents included MTM provisions in some
form.
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Alex Egervary, (aegervary)
Posted October 29, 2009, 5:30 pm EDT
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