Massachusetts House Approves Bill That Aims To Control Health Care Spending

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice;  Health Insurance / Medical Insurance;  Public Health
Article Date: 18 Jul 2008 - 8:00 PDT

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The Massachusetts House on Wednesday approved legislation that aims to rein in health care spending, the AP/Boston Herald reports (AP/Boston Herald, 7/16). Members of the Massachusetts House Joint Committee on Health Care Financing on Tuesday removed a provision of the bill that would have banned pharmaceutical companies from providing gifts and meals to physicians, the Boston Globe reports.

The bill, sponsored by state Senate President Therese Murray (D), now requires drug companies to adopt a marketing "code of conduct," such as the guidelines announced last week by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Under PhRMA's voluntary guidelines, meals at restaurants and corporate gifts with the names of the companies and their products would be banned, but companies still would be allowed to cater lunches at physician offices and hospitals.

The House committee also eliminated provisions that would have required drug and medical device manufacturers to disclose consulting and speaking payments to physicians and that would have required the state Department of Public Health to publish the information online. A provision that would have implemented a $5,000 fine for each violation also was deleted from the bill. The state Senate has passed a version of the bill that includes the gift ban provision (Lazar, Boston Globe, 7/16).

The House legislation would require uniform coding of medical claims to improve billing consistency and would provide incentives for physicians to focus on chronic disease management. The measure also would require the adoption of a statewide electronic health record system by 2015 (AP/Boston Herald, 7/16).

Both versions of the legislation would create a physician-led outreach and education program to provide objective information to doctors and encourage the use of evidence-based and cost-effective prescribing practices. The program also would "inform prescribers about drug marketing that is intended to circumvent competition" from lower-cost generic drugs or other evidence-based treatments (Boston Globe, 7/16).

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