NACDS, NCPA back senatorial MTM bill

ALEXANDRIA, Va. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores and the National Community Pharmacists Association have voiced their support of the Senate medication therapy management bill, authored and introduced Tuesday by Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., as it aims to further pave the way for enhanced pharmacist-provided MTM services.

Hagan's Medication Therapy Management Expanded Benefits Act of 2010 would enhance pharmacist-provided MTM services for Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries by opening MTM services to patients suffering from any chronic condition or disease. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., is an original co-sponsor of the bill.

"By encouraging MTM services in neighborhood pharmacies, the bill would improve public health and reduce healthcare costs by helping patients to take their medications in the right ways and avoid complications with their drug therapies," stated NACDS president and CEO Steve Anderson. "Patients suffering from chronic disease, be it diabetes, hypertension, asthma or other conditions, will benefit from these pharmacy services, which also strengthen the pharmacist-patient relationship. We thank Senators Hagan and Franken for their commitment to improving health care in a way that stands to reduce costs and improve lives."

Added Douglas Hoey, NCPA acting EVP and CEO, "For many Medicare Part D patients, the challenges of coping with numerous chronic conditions and diseases require an expert's consultation, and pharmacists are clinically trained in helping ensure their patients are getting the best possible results. The bill offered by Senators Hagan and Franken is the next logical step in broadening the reach of MTM. NCPA urges the Senate to move expeditiously to pass this bill, because true healthcare reform needs to incorporate all the best practices."

The bill is the Senate's companion to H.R. 3108, the Medication Therapy Management Benefits Act of 2009, introduced by Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., last year and endorsed by NACDS and NCPA.