Finance Committee Advances Bipartisan Package with Multiple Hassan Bills to Lower Prescription Drug Costs and Strengthen Mental Health Care and Addiction Treatment
WASHINGTON – Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) voted in the Senate Finance Committee to advance bipartisan legislation to lower prescription drug costs and expand access to mental health care, including her bipartisan bill to expand Medicare coverage of occupational therapy to improve mental health and addiction treatment and her bipartisan bill to expand access to short-term inpatient treatment at addiction treatment facilities.
“This bipartisan legislation takes important steps to lower prescription drug costs for seniors while also expanding access to mental health care and lifesaving care for those struggling with opioid addiction,” said Senator Hassan. “Last year, we took on Big Pharma by giving Medicare the ability to negotiate for lower drug prices. The legislation that we advanced takes important additional steps forward to help all Americans access and afford the care that they need.”
The Better Mental Health Care, Lower-Cost Drugs, and Extenders Act, which advanced from the Senate Finance Committee, expands coverage of mental health care in Medicare and lowers prescription drug prices for those on Medicare Part D. The bill also includes multiple bills that Senator Hassan has led on, including:
1. The Occupational Therapy Mental Health Parity Act that Senator Hassan and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) introduced to expand access to occupational therapy for patients being treated for mental health and substance use disorders
2. The Securing Advances and a Variety of Evidence-Based (SAVE) Institutions for Mental Disease (IMD) Options Act that Senator John Thune (R-SD) and Senator Hassan introduced to remove barriers for individuals on Medicaid to access short-term residential stays for substance use disorder treatment
Senator Hassan’s push is part of her ongoing efforts to lower health care and prescription drug costs for Americans. Senator Hassan recently introduced a bipartisan bill to prevent hospital systems from charging hospital facility fees for care received at outpatient facilities located away from the hospital. Senator Hassan led successful bipartisan efforts to help eliminate surprise medical billing, which has prevented at least 9 million surprise bills. Last year’s government funding bill, which is now law, also included three bipartisan measures backed by Senator Hassan to increase access to generic and biosimilar medications. Additionally, the Inflation Reduction Act included a number of key provisions that Senator Hassan pushed for to take on Big Pharma and address the skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs, including allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices – which will bring down the cost of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries and help drive down prices across the board.
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