Content about Senate

WASHINGTON — A bill proposed in Congress would give states incentives for using generic drugs through the Medicaid program.

WASHINGTON — It is critical for the Food and Drug Administration and Office of Generic Drugs to be fully funded so that patients can receive access to affordable medicines, the Generic Pharmaceutical Association said Wednesday.

The group called on the Senate to uphold the funds allocated to the FDA by the Senate Committee on Appropriations. GPhA president and CEO Ralph Neas said that cutting funds would affect the sustainability of the U.S. healthcare system, including such programs as Medicare and Medicaid.

WASHINGTON — The Council for Responsible Nutrition on Wednesday announced that former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs will be a featured speaker at The Conference, CRN’s annual symposium for the dietary supplement industry.

WASHINGTON — Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., last week introduced the Medical Flexible Spending Account Improvement Act (S. 1404), a bill that would allow consumers to pay taxes on and withdraw any remaining funds in their employer-sponsored flexible spending accounts.

Current rules require that any leftover balance in an FSA must be forfeited to the employer at the end of the plan year, oftentimes identified as the "use it or lose it" provision.

WASHINGTON — New bipartisan legislation introduced to the Senate last week seeks to offer states incentives to use generic drugs by allowing states to temporarily keep a portion of the savings.

Senators Scott Brown, R-Mass.; Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and John McCain, R-Ariz., introduced the Affordable Medicines Utilization Act of 2011, saying that the bill would encourage states to take advantage of cost-saving generic drugs.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Amid debt ceiling talks, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores has sent a letter to President Barack Obama and to the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate leadership outlining key areas to help ensure continued patient access to pharmacy services through such federally funded programs as Medicare, Medicaid and TRICARE, the association announced on Wednesday. 

WASHINGTON — One week after the Senate failed to pass an amendment that would have delayed swipe-fee reform for an additional 12 months, the Department of Justice Antitrust Division reportedly is addressing anticompetitive practices related to credit cards.

The agency has submitted a final consent decree in its enforcement action against Visa and MasterCard, according to the Food Marketing Institute.

WASHINGTON — The retail industry won a big victory in Washington, D.C., as the Senate defeated an amendment that proposed to delay swipe-fee reform for another 12 months.

NEW YORK — Legislation recently introduced in the Senate aims to address the issue of drug shortages.

The Preserving Access to Life-Saving Medications Act, introduced in February by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., would require drug manufacturers to inform the Food and Drug Administration when supplies of a drug may be running low, allowing the agency to inform hospitals and attempt to address shortages.

The bill currently has nine cosponsors and is under review by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, according to congressional records.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Louisiana State Senate passed legislation that would expand the authority given to pharmacists to administer immunizations.

State Sen. Fred Mills Jr., R-22, who serves on the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, is the author of SB 60, which would expand pharmacists' authority to provide immunizations to Louisianans ages 18 years and older against pneumonia, shingles, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis without a prescription.

ST. LOUIS — Missouri’s House of Representatives on Monday voted 100 in favor and 50 opposed to reclassifying pseudoephedrine as a prescription-only remedy and subsequently moved the matter to the state Senate — this despite the fact that electronic track-and-trace has been up and running for the past six months, blocking more than 30,000 potentially illegal PSE purchases, stated Scott Melville, president and CEO of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Tuesday voted to repeal a law that posed a burdensome tax reporting requirement for businesses.

In an 87-12 decision, the legislative body passed H.R. 4, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act, sponsored by Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif. The bill repeals a provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 that required businesses to file a Form 1099 with the Internal Revenue Service whenever they made noncredit-card payments totaling $600 or more to a vendor during a single year.