Congress Addresses Several Issues Related To Health Care
14 09 07 - 12:52
Summaries of news coverage on several recent congressional actions related to health care appear below.
Generic medications: A measure that would allow FDA to approve generic versions of medications regardless of safety concerns raised by citizen petitions likely will not change agency practices, a current and a former FDA official said last week, CongressDaily reports. The provision is in the House and Senate bills to reauthorize the Prescription Drug User Fee Act. In some cases, brand-name pharmaceutical companies file petitions, which FDA must resolve before approval of generic versions of medications, to delay competition. FDA Chief Counsel Sheldon Bradshaw and former Chief Counsel Dan Troy said that the provision would not change agency practices related to such petitions because FDA officials would not risk approval of a generic version of a medication later found to have safety concerns. The provision also would require FDA to resolve such petitions within 180 days, but Troy said that the agency lacks the resources to meet such a requirement (Edney, CongressDaily, 9/11).
Mental health parity: A House bill (HR 1424) sponsored by Reps. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.) that would require health insurers to provide the same level of coverage for mental illnesses as they provide for physical illnesses would increase premiums by about 0.4%, according to a score of the legislation released on Sept. 7 by the Congressional Budget Office, CQ HealthBeat reports. According to CBO, health insurers and employers would offset more than half of the cost of the bill through reductions in total coverage or increases in deductibles and copayments. The legislation would reduce federal tax revenue by $1.1 billion from 2008 to 2012 and by $3.1 billion from 2008 to 2017, as well as increase Medicare spending by $310 million from 2008 to 2012 and by $3.1 billion from 2008 to 2017, according to CBO (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 9/10).
Trade adjustment assistance: Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Monday called for an extension by several months of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act program, which expires on Sept. 30, to allow lawmakers time to pass legislation to reauthorize the law, CongressDaily reports (Vaughan, CongressDaily, 9/11). Under the program, among other benefits, manufacturing workers displaced by international trade can receive tax credits that cover 65% of the cost of health insurance premiums. Secondary workers -- those who lose their jobs because they provide services for U.S. industries affected by international trade -- also can receive the tax credits. Workers who qualify for the tax credits can receive them in advance or as a refund in their federal tax returns (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/23). Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said that the committee will consider legislation to reauthorize the program later this month (CongressDaily, 9/11).
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