Health And Wellness Industry News: Restoring Access Bill Introduced, Another Dietary Fiber Meets FDA Definition, More

The Restoring Access to Medication Act introduced in the House would reinstate consumers’ direct purchases of OTC drugs with pre-tax- savings accounts and extends eligibility for using the accounts to feminine hygiene products. Flexible spending arrangements, health savings accounts and other pre-tax accounts since 2011, under a provision in the Affordable Care Act, have been eligible for OTC products only when consumers have prescriptions from doctors. The legislation was introduced by Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI), Grace Meng (D-NY), Jackie Walorski (R-IN) and Darin LaHood (R-IL). "For years, I have been fighting to add menstrual hygiene products to the list of HSA-FSA eligible items, and I'm proud to continue championing that effort in this new legislation. There is no reason to prohibit individuals from using their HSA-FSA funds to pay for menstrual products. They are basic and essential items and adding them to the list of eligible expenses would go a long way toward making these products more affordable and accessible to women," Meng said in a release.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association has lobbied since Congress passed the ACA to again allow direct OTC purchases with pre-tax savings accounts. Bills proposing the change have been introduced in every session of Congress since then but none have gained sufficient support for passage. CHPA noted a study it released last week shows that 90% of US consumers prefer using OTC medicines before seeing health care providers and that, on average, each dollar spent on OTC medicines saves the US health care system $7.20, totaling nearly $146bn in annual savings. (Also see "Providing High Value, OTC Drugs Deserve Higher Profile In Health Care – CHPA" - HBW Insight, 19 March, 2019