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I
117TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 19
To provide for certain reforms with respect to the Medicare program under
title XVIII of the Social Security Act, the Medicaid program under
title XIX of such Act, the Food and Drug Administration, and for
other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 21, 2021
Mrs. RODGERS of Washington (for herself, Mr. BRADY, Ms. FOXX, Mr. GUTH-
RIE, Mr. NUNES, and Mr. ALLEN) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition
to the Committees on Ways and Means, and the Judiciary, for a period
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
A BILL
To provide for certain reforms with respect to the Medicare
program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act,
the Medicaid program under title XIX of such Act, the
Food and Drug Administration, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lower Costs, More
4
Cures Act of 2021’’.
5
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SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS.
1
The table of contents for this Act is as follows:
2
Sec. 1. Short title.
Sec. 2. Table of contents.
TITLE I—MEDICARE PARTS B AND D
Subtitle A—Medicare Part B Provisions
Sec. 101. Improvements to Medicare site-of-service transparency.
Sec. 102. Requiring manufacturers of certain single-dose container or single-use
package drugs payable under part B of the Medicare program
to provide refunds with respect to discarded amounts of such
drugs.
Sec. 103. Providing for variation in payment for certain drugs covered under
part B of the Medicare program.
Sec. 104. Establishment of maximum add-on payment for drugs and
biologicals.
Sec. 105. Treatment of drug administration services furnished by certain ex-
cepted off-campus outpatient departments of a provider.
Subtitle B—Drug Price Transparency
Sec. 111. Reporting on explanation for drug price increases.
Sec. 112. Public disclosure of drug discounts.
Sec. 113. Study of pharmaceutical supply chain intermediaries and merger ac-
tivity.
Sec. 114. Making prescription drug marketing sample information reported by
manufacturers available to certain individuals and entities.
Sec. 115. Sense of Congress regarding the need to expand commercially avail-
able drug pricing comparison platforms.
Subtitle C—Medicare Part D Benefit Redesign
Sec. 121. Medicare part D benefit redesign.
Subtitle D—Other Medicare Part D Provisions
Sec. 131. Allowing the offering of additional prescription drug plans under
Medicare part D.
Sec. 132. Allowing certain enrollees of prescription drug plans and MA–PD
plans under Medicare program to spread out cost-sharing
under certain circumstances.
Sec. 133. Establishing a monthly cap on beneficiary incurred costs for insulin
products and supplies under a prescription drug plan or MA–
PD plan.
Sec. 134. Growth rate of Medicare part D out-of-pocket cost threshold.
TITLE II—MEDICAID
Sec. 201. Medicaid pharmacy and therapeutics committee improvements.
Sec. 202. GAO report on conflicts of interest in State Medicaid program drug
use review boards and pharmacy and therapeutics (P&T) com-
mittees.
Sec. 203. Ensuring the accuracy of manufacturer price and drug product infor-
mation under the Medicaid drug rebate program.
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Sec. 204. Improving transparency and preventing the use of abusive spread
pricing and related practices in Medicaid.
Sec. 205. T–MSIS drug data analytics reports.
Sec. 206. Risk-sharing value-based payment agreements for covered outpatient
drugs under Medicaid.
Sec. 207. Applying Medicaid drug rebate requirement to drugs provided as part
of outpatient hospital services.
TITLE III—FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
Subtitle A—Pay-for-Delay
Sec. 301. Unlawful agreements.
Sec. 302. Notice and certification of agreements.
Sec. 303. Forfeiture of 180-day exclusivity period.
Sec. 304. Commission litigation authority.
Sec. 305. Statute of limitations.
Subtitle B—Advancing Education on Biosimilars
Sec. 321. Education on biological products.
Subtitle C—Other Provisions
Sec. 331. Clarifying the meaning of new chemical entity.
TITLE IV—REVENUE PROVISION
Sec. 401. Safe harbor for high deductible health plans without deductible for
insulin.
TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS
Sec. 501. Payment for biosimilar biological products during initial period.
Sec. 502. GAO study and report on average sales price.
Sec. 503. Requiring prescription drug plans and MA–PD plans to report poten-
tial fraud, waste, and abuse to the Secretary of HHS.
Sec. 504. Establishment of pharmacy quality measures under Medicare part D.
Sec. 505. Improving coordination between the Food and Drug Administration
and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Sec. 506. Patient consultation in Medicare national and local coverage deter-
minations in order to mitigate barriers to inclusion of such per-
spectives.
Sec. 507. MedPAC report on shifting coverage of certain Medicare part B
drugs to Medicare part D.
Sec. 508. Requirement that direct-to-consumer advertisements for prescription
drugs and biological products include truthful and non-mis-
leading pricing information.
Sec. 509. Chief Pharmaceutical Negotiator at the Office of the United States
Trade Representative.
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TITLE I—MEDICARE PARTS B
1
AND D
2
Subtitle A—Medicare Part B
3
Provisions
4
SEC. 101. IMPROVEMENTS TO MEDICARE SITE-OF-SERVICE
5
TRANSPARENCY.
6
Section 1834(t) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
7
1395m(t)) is amended—
8
(1) in paragraph (1)—
9
(A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘IN GEN-
10
ERAL’’ and inserting ‘‘SITE PAYMENT’’;
11
(B) in the matter preceding subparagraph
12
(A)—
13
(i) by striking ‘‘or to’’ and inserting ‘‘,
14
to’’;
15
(ii) by inserting ‘‘, or to a physician
16
for services furnished in a physician’s of-
17
fice’’ after ‘‘surgical center’’; and
18
(iii) by inserting ‘‘(or 2022 with re-
19
spect to a physician for services furnished
20
in a physician’s office)’’ after ‘‘2018’’; and
21
(C) in subparagraph (A)—
22
(i) by striking ‘‘and the’’ and insert-
23
ing ‘‘, the’’; and
24
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(ii) by inserting ‘‘, and the physician
1
fee schedule under section 1848 (with re-
2
spect to the practice expense component of
3
such payment amount)’’ after ‘‘such sec-
4
tion’’;
5
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through
6
(4) as paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively; and
7
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol-
8
lowing new paragraph:
9
‘‘(2)
PHYSICIAN
PAYMENT.—Beginning
in
10
2022, the Secretary shall expand the information in-
11
cluded on the Internet website described in para-
12
graph (1) to include—
13
‘‘(A) the amount paid to a physician under
14
section 1848 for an item or service for the set-
15
tings described in paragraph (1); and
16
‘‘(B) the estimated amount of beneficiary
17
liability applicable to the item or service.’’.
18
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SEC. 102. REQUIRING MANUFACTURERS OF CERTAIN SIN-
1
GLE-DOSE CONTAINER OR SINGLE-USE PACK-
2
AGE DRUGS PAYABLE UNDER PART B OF THE
3
MEDICARE PROGRAM TO PROVIDE REFUNDS
4
WITH RESPECT TO DISCARDED AMOUNTS OF
5
SUCH DRUGS.
6
Section 1847A of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
7
1395w–3a) is amended by adding at the end the following
8
new subsection:
9
‘‘(i) REFUND
FOR CERTAIN DISCARDED SINGLE-
10
DOSE CONTAINER OR SINGLE-USE PACKAGE DRUGS.—
11
‘‘(1) SECRETARIAL
PROVISION
OF
INFORMA-
12
TION.—
13
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—For each calendar
14
quarter beginning on or after January 1, 2022,
15
the Secretary shall, with respect to a refundable
16
single-dose container or single-use package drug
17
(as defined in paragraph (8)), report to each
18
manufacturer
(as
defined
in
subsection
19
(c)(6)(A)) of such refundable single-dose con-
20
tainer or single-use package drug the following
21
for the calendar quarter:
22
‘‘(i) Subject to subparagraph (C), in-
23
formation on the total number of units of
24
the billing and payment code of such drug,
25
if any, that were discarded during such
26
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quarter, as determined using a mechanism
1
such as the JW modifier used as of the
2
date of enactment of this subsection (or
3
any such successor modifier that includes
4
such data as determined appropriate by
5
the Secretary).
6
‘‘(ii) The refund amount that the
7
manufacturer is liable for pursuant to
8
paragraph (3).
9
‘‘(B)
DETERMINATION
OF
DISCARDED
10
AMOUNTS.—For
purposes
of
subparagraph
11
(A)(i), with respect to a refundable single-dose
12
container or single-use package drug furnished
13
during a quarter, the amount of such drug that
14
was discarded shall be determined based on the
15
amount of such drug that was unused and dis-
16
carded for each drug on the date of service.
17
‘‘(C) EXCLUSION OF UNITS OF PACKAGED
18
DRUGS.—The total number of units of the bill-
19
ing and payment code of a refundable single-
20
dose container or single-use package drug of a
21
manufacturer furnished during a calendar quar-
22
ter for purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), and
23
the determination of the estimated total allowed
24
charges for the drug in the quarter for purposes
25
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of paragraph (3)(A)(ii), shall not include such
1
units that are packaged into the payment
2
amount for an item or service and are not sepa-
3
rately payable.
4
‘‘(2)
MANUFACTURER
REQUIREMENT.—For
5
each calendar quarter beginning on or after January
6
1, 2022, the manufacturer of a refundable single-
7
dose container or single-use package drug shall, for
8
such drug, provide to the Secretary a refund that is
9
equal to the amount specified in paragraph (3) for
10
such drug for such quarter.
11
‘‘(3) REFUND AMOUNT.—
12
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The amount of the re-
13
fund specified in this paragraph is, with respect
14
to a refundable single-dose container or single-
15
use package drug of a manufacturer assigned to
16
a billing and payment code for a calendar quar-
17
ter beginning on or after January 1, 2022, an
18
amount equal to the estimated amount (if any)
19
by which—
20
‘‘(i) the product of—
21
‘‘(I) the total number of units of
22
the billing and payment code for such
23
drug that were discarded during such
24
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quarter (as determined under para-
1
graph (1)); and
2
‘‘(II)(aa) in the case of a refund-
3
able single-dose container or single-
4
use package drug that is a single
5
source drug or biological, the amount
6
of payment determined for such drug
7
or
biological
under
subsection
8
(b)(1)(B) for such quarter; or
9
‘‘(bb) in the case of a refundable
10
single-dose container or single-use
11
package drug that is a biosimilar bio-
12
logical product, the amount of pay-
13
ment determined for such product
14
under subsection (b)(1)(C) for such
15
quarter; exceeds
16
‘‘(ii) an amount equal to the applica-
17
ble percentage (as defined in subparagraph
18
(B)) of the estimated total allowed charges
19
for such drug under this part during the
20
quarter.
21
‘‘(B)
APPLICABLE
PERCENTAGE
DE-
22
FINED.—
23
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‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—For purposes of
1
subparagraph (A)(ii), the term ‘applicable
2
percentage’ means—
3
‘‘(I) subject to subclause (II), 10
4
percent; and
5
‘‘(II) if applicable, in the case of
6
a refundable single-dose container or
7
single-use package drug described in
8
clause (ii), a percentage specified by
9
the Secretary pursuant to such clause.
10
‘‘(ii) TREATMENT
OF
DRUGS
THAT
11
HAVE
UNIQUE
CIRCUMSTANCES.—In the
12
case of a refundable single-dose container
13
or single-use package drug that has unique
14
circumstances involving similar loss of
15
product as that described in paragraph
16
(8)(B)(ii), the Secretary, through notice
17
and comment rulemaking, may increase
18
the applicable percentage otherwise appli-
19
cable under clause (i)(I) as determined ap-
20
propriate by the Secretary.
21
‘‘(4) FREQUENCY.—Amounts required to be re-
22
funded pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be paid in
23
regular intervals (as determined appropriate by the
24
Secretary).
25
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‘‘(5) REFUND DEPOSITS.—Amounts paid as re-
1
funds pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be deposited
2
into the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance
3
Trust Fund established under section 1841.
4
‘‘(6) ENFORCEMENT.—
5
‘‘(A) AUDITS.—
6
‘‘(i) MANUFACTURER AUDITS.—Each
7
manufacturer of a refundable single-dose
8
container or single-use package drug that
9
is required to provide a refund under this
10
subsection shall be subject to periodic
11
audit with respect to such drug and such
12
refunds by the Secretary.
13
‘‘(ii) PROVIDER
AUDITS.—The Sec-
14
retary shall conduct periodic audits of
15
claims submitted under this part with re-
16
spect to refundable single-dose container or
17
single-use package drugs in accordance
18
with the authority under section 1833(e) to
19
ensure compliance with the requirements
20
applicable under this subsection.
21
‘‘(B) CIVIL MONEY PENALTY.—
22
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary
23
shall impose a civil money penalty on a
24
manufacturer of a refundable single-dose
25
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container or single-use p
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