Prescription Pricing for the People Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1388 To require the Federal Trade Commission to study the role of intermediaries in the pharmaceutical supply chain and provide Congress with appro- priate policy recommendations, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2021 Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Ms. CANTWELL, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Ms. ERNST, and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To require the Federal Trade Commission to study the role of intermediaries in the pharmaceutical supply chain and provide Congress with appropriate policy recommenda- tions, 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 ‘‘Prescription Pricing 4 for the People Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1388.IS S1388 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1388 IS (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON- 1 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 2 gress’’ means— 3 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 4 Senate; and 5 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 6 House of Representatives. 7 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 8 means the Federal Trade Commission. 9 SEC. 3. STUDY OF PHARMACEUTICAL SUPPLY CHAIN 10 INTERMEDIARIES AND MERGER ACTIVITY. 11 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 12 of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to 13 the appropriate committees of Congress a report that— 14 (1) addresses at minimum— 15 (A) whether pharmacy benefit managers— 16 (i) charge payers a higher price than 17 the reimbursement rate at which the phar- 18 macy benefit managers reimburse phar- 19 macies owned by the pharmacy benefit 20 manager and pharmacies not owned by the 21 pharmacy benefit manager; 22 (ii) steer patients for competitive ad- 23 vantage to any pharmacy, including a re- 24 tail, mail-order, or any other type of phar- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1388.IS S1388 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1388 IS macy, in which the pharmacy benefit man- 1 agers have an ownership interest; 2 (iii) audit or review proprietary data, 3 including acquisition costs, patient infor- 4 mation, or dispensing information, of phar- 5 macies not owned by the pharmacy benefit 6 manager and use such proprietary data to 7 increase revenue or market share for com- 8 petitive advantage; or 9 (iv) use formulary designs to increase 10 the market share of higher cost prescrip- 11 tion drugs or depress the market share of 12 lower cost prescription drugs (each net of 13 rebates and discounts); 14 (B) trends or observations on the state of 15 competition in the healthcare supply chain, par- 16 ticularly with regard to intermediaries and their 17 integration with other intermediaries, suppliers, 18 or payers of prescription drug benefits; 19 (C) how companies and payers assess the 20 benefits, costs, and risks of contracting with 21 intermediaries, including pharmacy services ad- 22 ministrative organizations, and whether more 23 information about the roles of intermediaries 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1388.IS S1388 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1388 IS should be available to consumers and payers; 1 and 2 (D) whether there are any specific legal or 3 regulatory obstacles the Commission currently 4 faces in enforcing the antitrust and consumer 5 protection laws in the pharmaceutical supply 6 chain, including the pharmacy benefit manager 7 marketplace and pharmacy services administra- 8 tive organizations; and 9 (2) provides— 10 (A) observations or conclusions drawn 11 from the November 2017 roundtable entitled 12 ‘‘Understanding Competition in Prescription 13 Drug Markets: Entry and Supply Chain Dy- 14 namics,’’ and any similar efforts; 15 (B) specific actions the Commission in- 16 tends to take as a result of the November 2017 17 roundtable, and any similar efforts, including a 18 detailed description of relevant forthcoming ac- 19 tions, additional research or roundtable discus- 20 sions, consumer education efforts, or enforce- 21 ment actions; and 22 (C) policy or legislative recommendations 23 to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1388.IS S1388 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1388 IS (i) improve transparency and competi- 1 tion in the pharmaceutical supply chain; 2 (ii) prevent and deter anticompetitive 3 behavior in the pharmaceutical supply 4 chain; and 5 (iii) best ensure that consumers ben- 6 efit from any cost savings or efficiencies 7 that may result from mergers and consoli- 8 dations. 9 (b) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 11 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 12 an interim report on the progress of the report required 13 by subsection (a), along with preliminary findings and 14 conclusions based on information collected to that date. 15 SEC. 4. REPORT. 16 The Commission shall submit to the appropriate com- 17 mittees of Congress a report that includes— 18 (1) the number and nature of complaints re- 19 ceived by the Commission relating to an allegation 20 of anticompetitive conduct by a manufacturer of a 21 sole-source drug; 22 (2) the ability of the Commission to bring an 23 enforcement action against a manufacturer of a sole- 24 source drug; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1388.IS S1388 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1388 IS (3) policy or legislative recommendations to 1 strengthen enforcement actions relating to anti- 2 competitive behavior. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 May 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1388.IS S1388 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS