Bill Proposed to Expand Medication Therapy Management
- By BSTQ Staff
A new law is being proposed that would allow Medicare patients who have a chronic condition to review all their medications in one-on-one sessions with pharmacists, helping them to stick to their drug regimen. Known as medication therapy management, the bill was introduced in March by Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), along with two original cosponsors: Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Mike Ross (D-Ark.).
Currently, only about 12.9 percent of seniors in the Medicare prescription drug program are eligible to participate in medication therapy management because they have multiple chronic conditions. The bill would expand that eligibility to people who have only one chronic condition, as well as to dual eligibles enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, while requiring prescription drug plan sponsors to reimburse pharmacists and other healthcare providers who provide the service.
A recent analysis by the New England Healthcare Institute, a nonprofit research organization, shows that Americans who don’t stay on their drug regimens cost the system as much as $290 billion a year, or 13 percent of total expenditures.