Reduced Costs and Continued Cures Act of 2021
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
Reduced Costs and Continued Cures Act of 2021
This bill establishes and alters several programs and requirements relating to the prices of prescription drugs.
For example, the bill establishes and alters several requirements under Medicare and Medicaid, including
requiring drug manufacturers to issue rebates to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for covered drugs under Medicare that cost $100 or more and for which the average manufacturer price increases faster than inflation,
capping annual out-of-pocket spending under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, and
increasing the maximum rebate amount under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program.
The bill also makes changes relating to market exclusivities and manufacturer price concessions for prescription drugs, including
authorizing the Federal Trade Commission to initiate proceedings against parties to settlements of patent infringement claims that have anticompetitive effects with respect to drugs or biologics,
limiting in certain instances the number of patents that the manufacturer of a biologic can assert in a lawsuit against a company seeking to sell a biosimilar version, and
nullifying regulations relating to the treatment of certain Medicare prescription drug benefit rebates from drug manufacturers for purposes of federal anti-kickback laws.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on September 10, 2021. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on November 1, 2022: Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 117th Congress (2021-22), 362 of the 15,242 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Scott Peters (D-CA) introduced it on September 10, 2021, and 4 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 4 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 10, 2021, 1826 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 1409 days ago, on November 1, 2022.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 117th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2023 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers