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News in brief - Nov. 5, 2007

CMS delays part of Medicaid Rx rule - House panel approves parity bill - Ga. lawsuit seeking Medicaid pay for abortions allowed to proceed

CMS delays part of Medicaid Rx rule

Only the first phase of a rule requiring tamper-resistant pads for written Medicaid prescriptions will be delayed six months, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

A provision in a military spending bill adopted in May requires physicians and pharmacists to use tamper-resistant pads with one security feature for all written prescriptions by Oct. 1 and three security features on Oct. 1, 2008. Physician groups, including the AMA, concerned about disruptions to patient care and their practices, prodded Congress and President Bush to delay the rule's implementation. The government issued a six-month postponement in late September. But although physicians and pharmacists won't be required to use prescription pads with one security feature until April 1, 2008, they will still need to use pads with three security features beginning Oct. 1, 2008.

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House panel approves parity bill

The House Energy & Commerce Committee adopted the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007 in October after fending off Republican attempts to scale back the bill to resemble the more-limited Senate mental health parity bill. The committee adopted the measure 32-13. The bill, which has 272 co-sponsors, next heads to the House floor. It would require a wider scope of coverage and out-of-network coverage in certain situations than the Senate version, which the Senate adopted unanimously on Sept. 18.

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Ga. lawsuit seeking Medicaid pay for abortions allowed to proceed

A group of clinics and physicians in Georgia can sue the state for not covering abortions they say were needed to protect the health of their Medicaid patients, the state Supreme Court ruled in September.

The state Medicaid program reimburses clinics for abortions only if the pregnant woman's life is in danger or in cases of rape or incest. But the practitioners said the provision is unconstitutional because it excludes payment for abortions conducted to prevent medical problems that are not life-threatening to the woman. The doctors and clinics are seeking reimbursement for their services. No trial date has been set.

Attorney Louise Melling, director of the American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project, which represents the plaintiffs, said the decision is a victory for doctors and patients. "Courts uniformly have said that doctors can bring claims on behalf of their patients because their interests are so aligned," she said.Courts in 13 states also have ordered broader Medicaid funding for abortion, she added. Georgia's Dept. of Community Health had argued that doctors could not sue under the law. State officials did not return calls for comment.

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