Key Senate bill fails to make it to the floor

The Senate voted 54 to 39 in favor of S. 3101, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. However, that did not achieve the 60 votes needed for cloture. The bill includes pharmacy-related provisions that provide prompt payment of Medicare Part D prescription drug claims and delay the implementation of Medicaid reimbursement cuts for generic prescription drugs. Bruce Roberts, R.Ph., executive VP and CEO of the National Community Pharmacists Association, issued a statement which said, "While S. 3101, the health care bill championed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D, Mont.) and a majority of the U.S. Senate, did not achieve cloture, today, America's 23,000 community pharmacies remain committed to ensuring patients have access to prescription drug services. That outcome can only be achieved by including provisions to speed up the painfully slow payment of Medicare Part D claims and delay utilizing a formula designed to drastically cut reimbursements for Medicaid generic prescription drugs."

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