WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), along with U.S. Representatives Kevin Hern (R-Okla.-01) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.-04), reintroduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation to increase access to Prescription Digital Therapeutics (PDTs). Senators Capito and Shaheen originally introduced the Access to Prescription Digital Therapeutics Act last March.
“The Access to Prescription Digital Therapeutics Act would allow more patients living with a broad variety of diseases and conditions – from Substance and Opioid Use Disorders and mental and behavioral health issues to diabetes and Parkinson’s disease – to more efficiently access the care and support they need and deserve,” Senator Capito said. “Prescription Digital Therapeutics are an excellent example of how innovative technology can address some of the health challenges providers and patients continue to face. I’m proud to join my colleagues and reintroduce this important legislation.”
BACKGROUND:
The Access to Prescription Digital Therapeutics Act of 2023 would expand Medicare coverage to include PDTs, which are software-based disease treatments designed to directly treat disease. PDTs are designed and tested much like traditional prescription drugs but rather than swallowing a pill or taking an injection, patients receive cognitive therapy through software. The treatments are tested for safety and efficacy in randomized clinical trials, evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and prescribed by health care providers.
Full text of the legislation is available here.
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