Congress to Give Medicare Rx Drug Coverage Renewed Focus, CQ’s Carey Reports

With an April 17 hearing by the House Ways and Means Committee, Congress turns its attention back to the issue of Medicare prescription drug coverage, Congressional Quarterly's Mary Agnes Carey reports in this week's "Congressional Quarterly Audio Report." Carey calls the hearing "particularly significant" because it will allow the public to discern what legislators expect from a drug package, as well as the chance of passage for such a measure. Carey expects legislation to emerge across the spring and summer, with House action possible as early as May. Republican-backed measures, she predicts, are likely to rely on private insurers to provide drug coverage and may also include increased funding for Medicare managed care plans -- which often cover enrollee prescriptions -- and curbs on direct-to-consumer advertising, thought to drive up drug costs. As in previous years, however, Democrats will likely contend that drug coverage should be provided directly by the government as part of the basic Medicare program.

Other Issues
Carey also weighs in on several other health care issues making news:

• Bioterrorism: Drug companies are participating in a new joint initiative with the federal government that uses pharmaceutical sales representatives to educate physicians on anthrax and other bioterrorism threats because they "see a need for their expertise and access to physicians," Carey reports. In addition, she notes, the pharmaceutical industry can "use the public relations boost."
• Scully: CMS Administrator Tom Scully's defiance last week of a subpoena to testify before the House Small Business Committee has sparked "amazing" fallout, Carey says (Carey, "Congressional Quarterly Audio Report," 4/15). Scully refused to address a hearing on the impact of Medicare regulations on small businesses, objecting that the committee had seated administration officials with members of the industries they regulate (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/15). Although HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said last week that Scully will testify, committee chair Don Manzullo (R-Ill.) may still pursue a contempt of Congress citation against Scully. On the Hill, the incident is being interpreted as another in a recent "series of Bush administration snubs toward Congress," as well as an example of the long-held view that CMS is "overly bureaucratic and not very responsive," Carey says.
• Medical records privacy: Despite a hearing this week by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Congress is unlikely to pass legislation this year overturning the Bush administration's new medical privacy guidelines, Carey says. She explains, "It's an extremely complicated issue and there just isn't enough time, or interest, to do much legislatively with it."
• Cloning: Both President Bush and Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) last week endorsed a measure pending in the Senate that would ban cloning for reproductive and research purposes, but Frist's backing may prove "more powerful," Carey says. Frist is the Senate's only physician, and many members of both parties look to him "for advice on health and science matters." While Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) has promised a vote on the bill before Memorial Day, Carey reports neither supporters nor opponents have the 60 votes needed to end debate.