By Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Anthony Weiner
Special to Roll Call
June 6, 2011, Midnight
Because of the breadth and depth and importance of these pharmacies’ services to their patients and their communities, we support the following policies to maintain access to them:
• The Pharmacy Competition and Consumer Choice Act (H.R. 1971/S. 1058). We introduced this legislation to preserve a patient’s choice of pharmacy and to restore competition in the delivery of pharmacy services. Legitimate oversight by insurance companies to prevent waste, fraud and abuse should continue, but overzealous auditors should not overturn legitimate prescriptions on minor technicalities.
• The Medicare Access to Diabetes Supplies Act (H.R. 1936) to protect Medicare beneficiaries’ access to diabetes testing supplies and face-to-face counseling on their proper use at independent pharmacies.
• The Medication Therapy Management Benefits Act (H.R. 891) would give more Medicare patients access to cost-saving medication reviews and consultations with licensed pharmacists. These services have been shown to produce as much as a 12-to-1 return on investment.
Shortly we will be sending out a “Dear Colleague” to the entire House, asking Members to join the caucus and seeking support for legislative issues like those listed above. The main goal of the caucus is quite simple: to preserve our constituents’ access to the cost-saving services of these highly trained and motivated health care professionals and small-business owners.
Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) are both members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Lois Lerner, director of exempt organizations for the IRS, arrives for a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the investigation of the IRS' targeting of political groups. Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not testify and caused a protest from some committee members when she offered an opening statement and engaged in dialogue with members before invoking the right.
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