OTC drug bill may be attached to anti-government shutdown package

Title V of the package authorizes the government to collect fees from companies that want to sell drugs over-the-counter and to use the revenue to expand the over-the-counter drug market.

The title also calls for federal regulators to give drug companies clear advice about how to offer prescription drugs without a prescription.

Related: Opill, first over-the-counter birth control pill, will go on sale this month

Supporters argue that the measure should make some drugs easier to get and, possibly, cheaper.

The similar stand-alone bill now under consideration was introduced by Rep. Robert Latta, R-Ohio. That bill has one Republican co-sponsor and two Democratic co-sponsors.

What it means: One takeaway is that, at press time, the current version of the anti-shutdown package did not appear to include other provisions that could help or hurt employers' benefit plans, such as provisions affecting the employer health benefits tax exclusion.

Another takeaway that expanding the number of drugs available through ordinary drug shelves could cut employer health plan spending on generic prescription drugs; increase pressure on employers' to cover more over-the-counter drugs; increase employee interesting in using cash in health savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements and flexible spending arrangements to pay for over-the-counter drugs; and have a hard-to-predict effect on the plan participants' out-of-pocket spending.

For some plan participants, a drug that was available "for free," or available with a co-pay under $10, could suddenly be available next to the aspirin, but for a cost of $20 or more per bottle.

Budget bill ferry boats: Current Senate rules help some types of budget measures get through the Senate with just a majority vote, without facing the threat of "filibuster," or an endless round of debate that can only be stopped if 60 senators vote to stop it.

In the past, both Republican and Democratic leaders often used budget measures to get around the need for successful bills to attract 60 votes in the Senate by putting many spending-related provisions in huge legislative packages.

Some policymakers, including Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., who is now chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, have opposed the idea of using huge budget packages to get ordinary bills through Congress.

In the past, many anti-shutdown bills created using the old "ferry boat" strategy were thousands of pages long.

The PDF for the new continuing resolution package is just 91 pages long.