The Political Scene

Drug Co. Program Offers Free Meds

Assemblywoman Audrey I. Pheffer has announced the expansion of Merck's Patient Assistance Program, which will allow many more people to receive Merck medicines for free.

Patients in the United States who lack prescription drug insurance may now be eligible for the Merck Patient Assistance Program if their household income is at or below 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), which is set by the U.S. government. This means that patients now qualify if they have a household income of $43,320 or less for individuals, $58,280 or less for couples, or $88,200 or less for a family of four—even if the financial situation is temporary due to unemployment or other reasons.

The Merck Patient Assistance Program has a simple enrollment process and offers free delivery of Merck medicines for enrolled patients to their home or doctor's office for up to one year. Patients may be reenrolled if they continue to need assistance.

"During these troubling economic times, I encourage all those who are finding it difficult to afford their medications to take a few moments to see if they qualify for this important program that helps address the prescription needs of many Americans," said Pheffer.

Merck also offers a Prescription Discount Program and a Vaccine Patient Assistance Program. For further information on these programs, please visit www.merckhelps.com or call 1-800-727-5400.

Driver Safety Bill Passes Assembly

The State Assembly has passed legislation aimed at clamping down on distracted motorists and improving roadway safety across New York State by creating a statewide ban on driving while using portable electronic devices (PEDs) (A.8568-B).

In addition the comprehensive legislation would strengthen graduated licensing requirements for inexperienced teen drivers.

"As we move into the summer season, millions of vacation travelers will be converging upon New York's highways and byways," said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. "This heavy volume of traffic, coupled with the millions already using the roadways for their daily travels, means we must be extra vigilant about ensuring driver and pedestrian safety."

Provisions of the bill would:

• Prohibit the use of hand-held mobile telephones, PDA's, handheld devices with mobile data access, laptops, pagers, electronic games and any portable computing devices to send, read, view, access, browse, transmit, save or retrieve email, text messages or other electronic data while driving. It also bans viewing, taking or transmitting images or playing games while driving.

• Impose a maximum $150 fine for motorists found to be in violation of the new law.

• Allow fines to be imposed only as a secondary offense, when the driver is pulled over for a violation of another law.

In the past few years some New York State counties passed similar local bans. All local laws enacted on or before June 10, 2009, could continue in effect until Nov. 1, 2009, when all such local laws would be preempted.

The measure also stipulates that the commissioner of motor vehicles, in consultation with the superintendent of the state police, study the effects of the use of PEDs while driving, including the effects inattention has on highway and traffic safety. The commissioner will submit a report on his or her findings to the governor and leaders of the Senate and Assembly within four years of the passage of the law.

In addition to cutting down on driving distractions for all motorists, the bill also introduces legislation aimed at better protecting young, inexperienced drivers and reducing the incidence of traffic crashes by strengthening New York's graduated driver licensing laws and bringing the state's program closer to the model laws recommended by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The bill eliminates the Limited Class DJ/MJ driver license so that young, inexperienced drivers will be supervised for the full six-month learner's permit holding period otherwise required by current law. The elimination of this license will also simplify the current laws regarding junior drivers by making the laws more readily understandable to the public and law enforcement, and therefore, more easily enforced. The bill maintains the junior driver licenses (Class DJ or MJ), which allow limited driving privileges for young people learning to drive.

Specifically, the bill also:

• increases from the current 20 hours to 50 hours (including 15 hours of driving after sundown) the number of practice driving hours that must be certified by a parent or guardian before a permit-holding junior driver can obtain a license; and

• reduces the number of non-family passengers under the age of 21 who will be able to ride with a junior driver who is not accompanied by a specified supervising adult from two to one.

Study Seeks Better Cancer Care In U.S.

from the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bill last Thursday, June 18, aimed at improving oncology care in the United States by refocusing efforts towards patient-centered cancer care delivery and studying the best methods to coordinate care and extend quality of life.

As announced by Rep. Joseph Crowley, the "Oncology Care Qualice ity Improvement Program of 2009" will establish a voluntary pilot program to identify major areas of potential improvement to oncology care, including error reduction, increased patient education and care coordination, and expansion of endof life planning and counseling services.

Crowley noted that the bill has 18 original cosponsors and has been endorsed by National Patient Advocate Foundation (NPAF), U.S. Oncology, Society of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO), Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) and UPMC Cancer Centers.

"Fighting cancer is a fight we must win," said Crowley. "This innovative demonstration project will ensure that patients and doctors have the best tools and information at their disposal. By providing our health care providers with most-up-to date information on best practices, we will ensure cancer patients are given the best and most cost effective care."

The oncology care quality improvement (OCQI) program will be led by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in consultation with an advisory committee of expert oncology community physician, nurse, patient organizations and industry leaders. The OCQI will evaluate the impact of provider-led approaches to improve care quality and outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries with cancer while creating greater care efficiencies to reduce costs.

The OCQI also aims to foster evidence based guideline adherence to minimize variation and reduce errors in care, offers patient education and care coordination services to help patients avoid and/or address common effects of their cancers and treatments, and provides end-of-life planning and counseling services that aims to improve quality of life.

The pilot program will provide payments to participating oncology groups—based on their meeting of defined performance goals as well as per capita expenditure targets created by CMS—to be allocated from half of the program savings generated by the participating group. The other half of the program savings will be retained by the Medicare program.

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