MTM faring well in Congressional action
Senate committee passes HCR bill in party-line vote; House panel
mark-up today.
A health care reform (HCR) process perceived as slowing a week ago
picked up steam this week, with a key Senate committee yesterday passing
legislation in a 13–10 party line vote. Democrats are also flexing
their muscle on the House side of the Capitol, introducing legislation
on Tuesday and scheduling mark-up on the bill to begin today and a vote
next week.
Medication therapy management (MTM) provisions are retained in the
bill passed yesterday by the Senate Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Despite addition of
some 160 Republican-sponsored amendments to the original language
introduced last month, no GOP members of HELP supported the bill. The
Senate Finance Committee is also working a HCR bill, and if approved,
differences between these two versions will need to be reconciled before
the legislation moves to a vote on the floor of the Senate.
The House
Committees on Education and Labor, Ways and Means, and Energy and
Commerce on Tuesday introduced HCR
legislation. For coverage of MTM services provided by pharmacists,
the House HCR version is weak, mentioning the concept but not providing
important details and provisions that are contained in the Senate
version. Mark-up of the language begins today in the Energy and Commerce
Committee. An analysis of the House
proposal has been posted on pharmacist.com.
The House language contains an interesting provision being advocated
by the pharmaceutical industry that would help Medicare Part D
beneficiaries navigate the “donut hole” that complicates
their prescription drug coverage. The concept is that patients would pay
50% of their prescription drug costs during the gap in benefits, but
100% of the costs would count toward getting them through the donut hole
and to the threshold at which Medicare pays 95% of costs.
Congressional leaders and the White House are pushing for votes on
HCR before the August recess. If this timeline is adhered to,
pharmacists’ contacts with Members while they are back in their
home districts will be doubly important. Take
action now to begin planning some face time with your Senators and
Representative and their staff members. August is a great time to meet
with them in the Members’ District Offices. August is also one the
last opportunities for face-to-face contact with Members before the HCR
bills go to conference committee, where a final bill will be
negotiated.
Related resources on www.pharmacist.com
L. Michael Posey, BPharm (mposey)
Posted July 16, 2009, 3:30 PM EDT
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