Re-importation and Data Mining tossed from HC reform bill

HFA has addressed datamining practices in this space on multiple occasions. Most of these efforts have come from state officials. An effort to address datamining Federally was included in the Healthcare Reform package in the Senate. As the healthcare package moves towards Senate passage, the Senate leadership has decided to not include it in their version of the bill. This means that the version coming out of the conference committee likely will not address dataming. More information is available below. 

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Wednesday December 16th, 2009 (Jacob Goldstein — Wall Street Journal Health Blog)

In the U.S. Senate, where a slim majority does not rule, a provision that would have made it legal to import prescription drugs went down to defeat last night. The vote was 51-48 in favor of the amendment, but the magic number in the Senate is 60 votes. Supporters, drawn from both parties, argued that the measure would lower drug prices, which are higher in the U.S. than in many other countries. But the FDA said allowing the sale of imported drugs could be unsafe. And the drug industry fought the measure, which was introduced as an amendment to the big health-care bill. Meanwhile, an amendment that would have banned the sale of doctors’ prescription data for marketing purposes has been shelved for now, according to Reuters.

The amendment followed the lead taken by a few states, which have clamped down on companies such as IMS Health that buy doctors’ prescription data from pharmacies, crunch it, and sell it to drug makers. The amendment isn’t likely to come up for a vote or be included in a package of changes that will be offered later by Majority Leader Harry Reid, according to an unnamed Senate staffer quoted by Reuters.

(Courtesy: National Legislative Association on Rx Drug Pricing)