U.S. Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced a bill on Wednesday that seeks to expand access to medication therapy management (MTM), a service to ensure senior citizens covered by Medicare are taking their medications properly.
The Medication Therapy Management Empower Act would provide pharmacist-provided MTM services to recipients with a single chronic condition of cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes or hyperlipidemia. The MTM benefit was originally covered in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 by necessitating MTM services for Medicare patients suffering from multiple chronic conditions.
“MTM is an important tool in the pharmacists’ tool box for many patients, but especially for those suffering from chronic conditions,” Roberts said. “The Medication Therapy Management Empowerment Act gives patients access to valuable counseling and management for their conditions, and takes the essential steps to guarantee what we already know: that MTM will save the system money while providing higher quality care for patients. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation.”
MTM services are offered by pharmacists to help improve patient health, decrease the risk of disadvantageous events, and manage health care costs. It is especially valuable for those living in rural communities.
“Our bipartisan bill has the potential to improve care for seniors who need it the most while also reducing health care costs for our system as a whole,” Shaheen said. “Providing seniors with better access to counseling when it comes to the safe and proper use of their medication should be a matter of commonsense. It will make sure seniors are not only taking their medications properly but does so in a way that lowers health care costs.”