Content about Congress

WASHINGTON — A new congressional caucus will look for ways to educate the public and members of Congress on how to reduce the country’s healthcare costs with affordable medicines.

Reps. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., will serve as chairwoman and chairman for the Congressional Affordable Medicines Caucus, whose formation was announced Thursday.

MONTVILLE, N.J. — Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and the World Federation of Hemophilia announced Thursday a three-year extension of Bayer’s sponsorship agreement with the WFH.

The agreement calls for Bayer to serve as the sole sponsor of the WFH’s International Hemophilia Training Centre program and provide support for other activities of the organiztion, such as its website and Congress. The program trains healthcare professionals in developing countries in diagnosis and management of hemophilia and related bleeding disorders.

WASHINGTON — The congressional Dietary Supplement Caucus held its first briefing for the 112th Congress April 6 to a capacity crowd of 60 House and Senate staffers, the caucus announced Thursday.

The DSC recently was relaunched for the 112th Congress. The caucus serves as a bipartisan, bicameral group of members to facilitate discussions among lawmakers about the benefits of dietary supplements, provide tips and insights for better health and wellness, and promote research into the healthcare savings provided by dietary supplements.

WASHINGTON — Just two weeks after expressing its discouragement caused by the delayed swipe-fee reform, the National Retail Federation lauded a letter from a coalition of consumer groups that also opposed the delay, which is slated to go into effect this summer.

WASHINGTON — The generic drug industry’s main lobby in Washington is hoping to head off cuts to the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Generic Drugs, which it said could have a “devastating impact” on those who rely on generics.

Republicans in Congress have sought to reduce government spending by making large cuts to various domestic programs and agencies, including the FDA, which critics of the plan said could jeopardize food and drug safety.

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation said legislation introduced Tuesday to delay swipe fee reform, which is scheduled to go into effect this summer, would block retailers from giving discounts to consumers who use debit cards and would cost merchants and the public more than $1 billion per month.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association on Tuesday urged Congress to permit the Federal Reserve Board to expedite the implementation of an amendment to the financial-reform legislation from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., that would limit the fees charged to retail merchants on debit card transactions (known as “swipe fees”) to a level that is “reasonable and proportionate” to the costs incurred by the banks and credit card associations to process these transactions.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT — Walgreens’ winning of an award for its MTM services came right before it joined the Care Continuum Alliance — a group of more than 200 stakeholders that provide such services as wellness and prevention programs and management of chronic conditions — of which CVS Caremark already was a member.

(THE NEWS: Walgreens takes top honors for MTM services. For the full story, click here)

Though efforts to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act via the court system remain under way — with recent victories for opponents in Virginia and Florida — the attempt to repeal the healthcare-reform bill in Congress failed, thus leaving the bill and, most importantly, the regulatory approval pathway for follow-on biologics intact.


WASHINGTON — The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and its members from across the country once again are flocking to Capitol Hill for RxImpact Day, a groundbreaking, two-day event that enables pharmacists to meet with members of Congress to discuss the vital role of retail pharmacy within the U.S. healthcare system and its ability to help reduce annual healthcare costs.

WASHINGTON — Recent restrictions imposed on flexible spending accounts appear to be the first piece of ObamaCare to be challenged by the new Congress.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., on Thursday respectively introduced The Patients’ Freedom to Choose Act, a bill that would repeal two provisions in the Obama healthcare law that limit a patient’s choice in how to use consumer-directed health savings plans, to the Senate and House of Representatives.

As soon as members of Congress took their seats last month, the new Republican majority announced it would make good on its pledge to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The effort largely is symbolic and unlikely to succeed, so at least one portion of the healthcare-reform law will likely remain in effect, namely the abbreviated approval pathway for follow-on biologics, also known as the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act.