MID Home Delivery Bill Passes House

On September 18, thirteen (13) physicians from across The US Oncology Network met with key lawmakers in Washington, D.C. to passionately advocate on behalf of community oncology. The discussions primarily focused on the importance of the ability to prescribe, dispense and deliver oral medications thorough medically-integrated dispensing platforms, while also underscoring the themes of physician reimbursement pressures and site neutral payment reform.

Throughout the day, physicians had the opportunity to meet with ten Members of Congress including policy staff from the House Majority Whip’s office, and members of the House Energy & Commerce, Ways & Means, and Budget Committees.  

MID Home Delivery Bill Passes House
On the heels of the fly-in, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5526, The Seniors’ Access to Critical Medications Act by a voice vote on Monday, September 23, sending the bill over to the Senate for consideration.

H.R. 5526, introduced by Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) and Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) would clarify that delivering medicines by mail, delivery, or courier service, or allowing a family member or caregiver to pick up medicines on behalf of a patient, would not violate the physician self-referral law and would fall under the in-office ancillary services exception.

The bill which passed without any dissenting votes out of the House Energy & Commerce Committee in June would authorize this activity from CY2025 through CY2029 and require the patient to have a face-to-face encounter with the prescriber within the year prior to the date the drug was furnished. House passage is a major step as it now heads to the Senate for its last hurdle before being signed into law.

This passage out of the House was a direct result of the physician advocates who joined us in Washington, DC this past week. 

To contact your Senator to ask them to restore patient access to their oncoloytics, CLICK HERE.