Tuesday Tidbits

For the past two years, OPM has asked FEHB plans to offer programs to reduce obesity in the annual benefit and rate proposal call letter. This week the Centers for Disease Control have been holding a Weight of the Nation conference to discuss national strategies to combat our obesity epidemic. Yesterday, a related Institutes of Medicine report was released. The IOM report

focuses on five critical goals for preventing obesity: integrating physical activity into people's daily lives, making healthy food and beverage options available everywhere, transforming marketing and messages about nutrition and activity, making schools a gateway to healthy weights, and galvanizing employers and health care professionals to support healthy lifestyles. The committee assessed more than 800 obesity prevention recommendations to identify those that could work together most effectively, reinforce one another's impact, and accelerate obesity prevention.

Kaiser Health News advocates a more aggressive approach which relies on class action litigation.  The FEHBlog would like to give the IOM approach a chance.

The Washington Times reports that America's Health Insurance Plans ("AHIP") has weighed in on  a Food and Drug Administration initiative to create a new Goldilocks category of drugs in between prescription drugs and over the counter drugs. Prescription drugs by definition requires a doctor's oversight to assure safe use, and OTC drugs do not. The new third category which the FDA has not yet approved would be known as safe use drugs.  "Patients wouldn’t need a prescription for safe use drugs but neither could they obtain them over the counter. Instead, people could only buy the drugs after diagnosing their ailments online or in the pharmacy." Pharmacists rather than doctors would supervise the process. The American Medical Association is not keen on this aspect of the idea. AHIP generally supports the idea but suggests that there are questions that need to be addressed before the initiative is launched. This could lower the health care cost curve.

The AMA News reports that the AMA is keen on repealing the puzzling Affordable Care Act requirement that health plans, health care flexible spending accounts, and health savings accounts may only reimburse over the counter drugs that have been prescribed by a doctor. (Health plans generally do not cover OTC drugs.)  The FEHBlog is surprised that this provision has not been repealed yet.