Other Issues

CHPA applauds the introduction of H.R. 1219, the Oral Health Products Inclusion Act, which would increase access to certain oral care items, including toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, and other everyday oral care essentials by recognizing them as “qualified medical expenses” that can be purchased with Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Health Savings Account (HSA) funds.

Throughout the last few decades, governments across the world have expressed concern over excess plastic entering landfills and waterways. Now, as recycling struggles to maintain a profitable market, American states are expressing their own anxiety over recycled material ending up in regular trash.

Fearing links to human health problems and harm to the environment, state lawmakers are increasingly seeking to restrict the use and/or presence of PFAS in consumer products and packaging, whether intentionally added or not.

CHPA monitors legislation in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and takes positions per the direction of the State & Local Government Affairs Committee. As the role of OTC Devices in self-care continues to grow, so too will our engagement on issues at all levels of American government.

As state lawmakers continue to explore expanded responsibility for producers of products, a policy known as extended producer responsibility (EPR), it is likely manufacturer funded drug take-back laws will continue to be probed throughout the country.

In 1986, California voters overwhelmingly approved the State Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, commonly known as Proposition (Prop) 65. Prop 65 was designed to safeguard the state’s drinking water against chemicals known to the state to harm humans by requiring industry to inform Californians about exposures to such chemicals within the products or services they provide for sale to the public.

OTC medical devices like bandages, menstrual products, face masks, and at-home test kits, used for the purposes of prevention, testing, and treatment are well-accepted, cost saving elements of the healthcare system. Unfortunately, most states that have a retail sales tax, include a tax on the sale of some or all OTC healthcare products. More than 40 states, on the other hand, exempt sales tax of prescription drugs.