Bipartisan Thune bill would expand prevention services for chronic diseases

U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) on April 28 sponsored bipartisan legislation to help prevent chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States.

“There are 60 percent of American adults living with a chronic disease, which if left unmanaged, can cause further health complications and increased health care costs,” said Sen. Thune, citing CDC data. “By expanding what qualifies as preventive services, more folks living with chronic diseases can get coverage for the services and medications they need to manage their condition, helping improve quality of life.”

The Chronic Disease Management Act of 2021, S. 1424, which Sen. Thune introduced with original cosponsor U.S. Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to permit high deductible health plans to provide chronic disease prevention services to plan enrollees prior to satisfying their plan deductible, according to the text of the bill.

The legislation would state that preventive care would include any service or item used to treat an individual with a chronic condition if that service or item is low-cost, the text of the bill says. But if there is medical evidence supporting high-cost preventions for a chronic condition or to prevent the development of a secondary condition, then such preventions also would be allowable.

Sens. Thune and Carper originally introduced similar legislation in January 2020, but the bill stalled during the 116th Congress.

The newly introduced S. 1424 is supported by the Smarter Health Care Coalition and has been referred for consideration to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.