Jacob Ogles
The House has passed legislation championed by U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan that could expand chronic disease coverage nationwide.
The Chronic Disease Flexible Coverage Act (HR 919) cleared the House chamber. If the bill becomes law, it would allow employers offering high-deductible health plan coverage for employees the option of including pre-deductible coverage for certain healthcare services that treat common chronic illnesses.
“With six in ten Americans living with at least one chronic disease, it is clear that we must expand options for people to manage their chronic health conditions,” said Buchanan, a Longboat Key Republican and Chair of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee.
“The Chronic Disease Flexible Coverage Act offers employees more flexibility to manage their chronic diseases, improving patient health while reducing high out-of-pocket costs. I’m proud that this legislation passed the House with unanimous bipartisan support, and I look forward to getting this bill signed into law.”
In remarks on the floor, Buchanan said the cost for chronic diseases accounts for $1 trillion in spending in the American economy. It also accounts for a high percentage of preventable deaths, he said.
As written, the bill would allow pre-deductible coverage on 14 chronic health care services, including beta-blockers for patients with congestive heart failure, blood pressure monitors for patients with high blood pressure, glucometers for patients with diabetes, inhalers for patients with asthma, and cholesterol drugs and testing for patients with heart disease.
The bill now goes to the U.S. Senate. Notably, a version of the legislation passed in the House last Congress as well but was never taken up in the upper chamber.
But the legislation does have support from a number of influential health care and business lobbies, including the National Federation of Independent Business, National Small Business Association, Primary Care Collaborative, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, American Benefits Council, Smarter Health Care Coalition, Alliance to Fight for Health Care, Health Savings Account Council and American College of Preventive Medicine.
