Max Baucus: “Among the most pressing issues facing American senior citizens and persons with disabilities is the need for coverage of…”

“Among the most pressing issues facing American senior citizens and persons with disabilities is the need for coverage of prescription drugs under Medicare. While we in Congress continue to work to reach consensus on a Medicare prescription drug benefit, I applaud the bipartisan efforts of my colleagues to restore and preserve Medicare coverage for certain injectable drugs and biologicals that are crucial to seniors and persons with debilitating chronic illnesses. To this end the Act contains a tremendously important provision which amends Section 1861(s)(2) of the Social Security Act relating to coverage under Medicare Part B of certain drugs and biologicals administered incident to a physician's professional service. Because it is expected that the Act will be passed without any accompanying Committee Report language, and due to its importance to thousands of citizens, I rise to explain this statutory language. The Medicare Carrier Manual specifies that a drug or biological is covered under this provision if it is ``usually'' not self- administered. Under this standard, Medicare for many years covered drugs and biological products administered by physicians in their offices and in other outpatient settings. In August 1997, however, the Health Care Financing Administration issued a memorandum that had the effect of eliminating coverage for certain products that could be self- administered.…”