Adding Multivitamins To SNAP Sprouts Or Wilts In Congress' Decision On Farm Bill
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
House appoints its farm bill conference committee members primarily from Agriculture Committee but also with reps from committees with oversight for a variety of topics due to the breadth of the legislation and to contentious issues unrelated to including supplements as SNAP, or food stamp, benefits. Supplement industry also looks to fate of legislation that would allow using pre-tax health savings accounts to buy OTC drugs without having a doctor's prescription as a sign for whether VMS product purchases will be allowed with the accounts, as proposed in House and Senate bills.
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Supplement Industry Capitol Hill Allies Try Again To Add Multivitamins To SNAP
House and Senate bills would amend regulations for USDA program "to make certain multivitamin-mineral dietary supplements eligible for purchase with supplemental nutrition assistance program benefits." Trade groups, other industry stakeholders and public health advocacy groups have lobbied Congress for more than a decade to make multivitamins eligible for SNAP purchases.
Same Legislative Focus For Consumer Health As Its Hill Champions Change
OTC drug and dietary supplement industries still emphasize lobbying for allowing direct purchases of their [products with pre-tax health savings accounts; streamlining FDA's process for adding OTC monograph ingredients and indications; and making multivitamins eligible for purchase with food stamps. They also remain vigilant about keeping Congress' hands off DSHEA, which reaches its 25th anniversary in October.
Elections Reshape Congress But Not Supplement Industry Regulatory Outlook
Democrats potentially could target tightening regulatory oversight of some industries after regaining a majority in House, but Trump administration's high priority on reducing regulatory burdens bodes well that legislation to expand FDA's current authorities over the US supplement sector will not emerge before Congress' next session opens in 2021. NJ Democrat Frank Pallone could be member of Congress most commonly mentioned and lobbied by supplement industry during next session as Energy and Commerce chairman.