Summary
Creates a grant program to support medication therapy management services for certain high-risk individuals delivered by local healthcare providers. No funding appropriated.
Implementation Status
As of early 2013, no grants had been offered under this section.
On January 6, 2014, CMS issued a proposed rule delineating Contract Year 2015 MA and Part D policy and technical changes. The rule proposes, among other things, to limit and redefine, based on new criteria, Part D’s protected drug classes to initially include anticonvulsants, antiretrovirals and antineoplastics — but not antidepressants and immunosuppressants – as “drug categories and classes of clinical concern” for the 2015 coverage year. The rule addresses each of these provisions of the ACA in some manner. A CMS fact sheet is available.
On March 10, 2014, the Administration informed top Congressional leaders that it will not finalize some of the key changes to Part D that it had proposed in a draft regulation issued January 10. The elements of the Proposed Rule that the Administration will not finalize include: (1) Changes to the Six Protected Classes, which would have excluded mental health and immunosuppressive drugs from these protections (such as a requirement that plans cover all drugs in these classes), among other revisions; (2) Reductions in the number of plans a Part D sponsor may offer; (3) Limitations on the use of preferred pharmacies; and (4) New interpretation of the non-interference provisions. The Administration notes it will gather additional input and effectively reserves the right to advance changes in these areas in future years. But no changes will be made for the CY15 plan year. It will move forward with other elements of the Rule, as discussed in the Administration’s letter to Congressional members. A copy of the letter is available externally here.
On May 19, CMS issued a final rule on MA and Part D contract year 2015 technical changes. While the final rule codifies a number of fraud and abuse-related proposals, as signaled in an earlier letter to Congress the final rule does not adopt controversial proposed modifications to Part D protected drug classes or limitations on offering more than two Part D plans in a given region. The rule addresses each of these provisions of the ACA in some manner. A fact sheet is available here.
Statutory Text
SEC. 3503. MEDICATION MANAGEMENT SERVICES IN TREATMENT OF CHRONIC DISEASE. Title IX of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299 et seq.), as amended by section 3501, is further amended by inserting after section 934 the following: ‘‘SEC. 935 ø42 U.S.C. 299b–35¿. GRANTS OR CONTRACTS TO IMPLEMENT MEDICATION MANAGEMENT SERVICES IN TREATMENT OF CHRONIC DISEASES. ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the Patient Safety Research Center established in section 933 (referred to in this section as the ‘Center’), shall establish a program to provide grants or contracts to eligible entities to implement medication management (referred to in this section as ‘MTM’) services provided by licensed pharmacists, as a collaborative, multidisciplinary, inter-professional approach to the treatment of chronic diseases for targeted individuals, to improve the quality of care and reduce overall cost in the treatment of such diseases. The Secretary shall commence the program under this section not later than May 1, 2010. ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive a grant or contract under subsection (a), an entity shall— ‘‘(1) provide a setting appropriate for MTM services, as recommended by the experts described in subsection (e); ‘‘(2) submit to the Secretary a plan for achieving long-term financial sustainability; ‘‘(3) where applicable, submit a plan for coordinating MTM services through local community health teams established in section 3502 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act or in collaboration with primary care extension programs established in section 399V–1; øAs revised by section 10501(f)(3)¿ ‘‘(4) submit a plan for meeting the requirements under subsection (c); and ‘‘(5) submit to the Secretary such other information as the Secretary may require. ‘‘(c) MTM SERVICES TO TARGETED INDIVIDUALS.—The MTM services provided with the assistance of a grant or contract awarded under subsection (a) shall, as allowed by State law including applicable collaborative pharmacy practice agreements, include— ‘‘(1) performing or obtaining necessary assessments of the health and functional status of each patient receiving such MTM services; ‘‘(2) formulating a medication treatment plan according to therapeutic goals agreed upon by the prescriber and the patient or caregiver or authorized representative of the patient; ‘‘(3) selecting, initiating, modifying, recommending changes to, or administering medication therapy; ‘‘(4) monitoring, which may include access to, ordering, or performing laboratory assessments, and evaluating the response of the patient to therapy, including safety and effectiveness; ‘‘(5) performing an initial comprehensive medication review to identify, resolve, and prevent medication-related problems, including adverse drug events, quarterly targeted medication reviews for ongoing monitoring, and additional followup interventions on a schedule developed collaboratively with the prescriber; ‘‘(6) documenting the care delivered and communicating essential information about such care, including a summary of the medication review, and the recommendations of the pharmacist to other appropriate health care providers of the patient in a timely fashion; ‘‘(7) providing education and training designed to enhance the understanding and appropriate use of the medications by the patient, caregiver, and other authorized representative; ‘‘(8) providing information, support services, and resources and strategies designed to enhance patient adherence with therapeutic regimens; ‘‘(9) coordinating and integrating MTM services within the broader health care management services provided to the patient; and ‘‘(10) such other patient care services allowed under pharmacist scopes of practice in use in other Federal programs that have implemented MTM services. ‘‘(d) TARGETED INDIVIDUALS.—MTM services provided by licensed pharmacists under a grant or contract awarded under subsection (a) shall be offered to targeted individuals who— ‘‘(1) take 4 or more prescribed medications (including overthe-counter medications and dietary supplements); ‘‘(2) take any ‘high risk’ medications; ‘‘(3) have 2 or more chronic diseases, as identified by the Secretary; or ‘‘(4) have undergone a transition of care, or other factors, as determined by the Secretary, that are likely to create a high risk of medication-related problems. ‘‘(e) CONSULTATION WITH EXPERTS.—In designing and implementing MTM services provided under grants or contracts awarded under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult with Federal, State, private, public-private, and academic entities, pharmacy and pharmacist organizations, health care organizations, consumer advocates, chronic disease groups, and other stakeholders involved with the research, dissemination, and implementation of pharmacist-delivered MTM services, as the Secretary determines appropriate. The Secretary, in collaboration with this group, shall determine whether it is possible to incorporate rapid cycle process improvement concepts in use in other Federal programs that have implemented MTM services. ‘‘(f) REPORTING TO THE SECRETARY.—An entity that receives a grant or contract under subsection (a) shall submit to the Secretary a report that describes and evaluates, as requested by the Secretary, the activities carried out under subsection (c), including quality measures endorsed by the entity with a contract under section 1890 of the Social Security Act, as determined by the Secretary. ‘‘(g) EVALUATION AND REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the relevant committees of Congress a report which shall—‘‘(1) assess the clinical effectiveness of pharmacist-provided services under the MTM services program, as compared to usual care, including an evaluation of whether enrollees maintained better health with fewer hospitalizations and emergency room visits than similar patients not enrolled in the program; ‘‘(2) assess changes in overall health care resource use by targeted individuals; ‘‘(3) assess patient and prescriber satisfaction with MTM services; ‘‘(4) assess the impact of patient-cost sharing requirements on medication adherence and recommendations for modifications; ‘‘(5) identify and evaluate other factors that may impact clinical and economic outcomes, including demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, and health services use of the patient, as well as characteristics of the regimen, pharmacy benefit, and MTM services provided; and ‘‘(6) evaluate the extent to which participating pharmacists who maintain a dispensing role have a conflict of interest in the provision of MTM services, and if such conflict is found, provide recommendations on how such a conflict might be appropriately addressed. ‘‘(h) GRANTS OR CONTRACTS TO FUND DEVELOPMENT OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—The Secretary may, through the quality measure development program under section 931 of the Public Health Service Act, award grants or contracts to eligible entities for the purpose of funding the development of performance measures that assess the use and effectiveness of medication therapy management services.’’.