Senate Finance Committee Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
and ranking member Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) have agreed to approve the
nomination of FDA
Commissioner Mark McClellan as CMS
administrator, according to a Senate leadership aide,
CongressDaily reports. Under the agreement, the committee on
Monday will hold a hearing on the nomination and vote by Tuesday, which
will allow the full Senate to vote before a one-week recess scheduled to
begin at the end of next week, the aide said. However, McClellan may face
challenges on the Senate floor, where at least three senators may seek to
delay his confirmation because of his opposition to the reimportation of
lower-cost, U.S.-made prescription drugs from Canada and other nations.
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Debbie Stabenow
(D-Mich.) have said that they "want to hear a fuller explanation of why
McClellan opposes reimportation," CongressDaily reports.
McClellan has said that FDA cannot certify the safety of prescription
drugs reimported from Canada and other countries (Heil,
CongressDaily, 3/2).
A
HealthCast of McClellan addressing the Medicare Congress Conference last
week is available online at kaisernetwork.org.