Senate Finance Committee Approves Mental Health and Drug Pricing Package Featuring Senator Casey’s Act to Protect Seniors

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On Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously voted to advance a legislative package on drug pricing and mental health, which includes provisions from U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) aimed at protecting seniors from high drug costs and preserving funding for safety-net hospitals. The package can now proceed to the Senate floor for further deliberation.

Chairman Casey said, “We have an obligation to ensure that health care is affordable and accessible for everyone across our Nation. This legislative package will help meet that obligation by protecting seniors from high drug costs and saving rural hospitals from devastating cuts. I look forward to fighting for its passage on the Senate floor.”

Among the elements of the legislative package is Senator Casey’s Protecting Seniors from High Drug Costs Act, introduced earlier this year with Senator Cornyn (R-TX). This bipartisan bill aims to reduce drug costs by preventing health plans and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from charging Medicare Part D beneficiaries more in cost-sharing than the net price of the drug. This legislation promises to lower cost-sharing for patients, making their necessary prescriptions more affordable, while also ensuring that PBMs and plans do not engage in unfair practices.

Another vital provision in the package is a delay to impending cuts to the Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) program. This program helps offset uncompensated care costs for hospitals that provide care to a large number of Medicaid beneficiaries and uninsured patients. The program was facing over $8 billion in cuts just for the next fiscal year, which could have jeopardized the financial viability of many of the nation’s safety-net hospitals and threatened access to care for some of the most vulnerable Americans. Earlier this year, Senator Casey, along with Senator Lankford (R-OK) and 49 colleagues, urged Senate leadership to prevent these drastic cuts.

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The legislative package also includes an extension of funding for outreach and assistance to low-income Medicare beneficiaries through State Health Insurance and Assistance Programs (SHIPs). Senator Casey advocated for this funding extension during a Finance Committee hearing last month.

The unanimous approval of the package by the Senate Finance Committee marks a significant step towards safeguarding seniors from high drug costs, preserving essential funding for safety-net hospitals, and extending support for low-income Medicare beneficiaries. The package now awaits further action on the Senate floor.

The full list of legislation in the package can be found here.

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