Seniors’ Access to Critical Medications Act of 2024
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Seniors’ Access to Critical Medications Act of 2024
This bill temporarily allows physicians to dispense outpatient prescription drugs and related supplies under the Medicare prescription drug benefit to patients via mail or to their caregivers without violating certain prohibitions under the Stark law (i.e., the Physician Self-Referral Law), if certain conditions are met. It also allows for coverage of certain external infusion pumps and associated home infusion drugs under Medicare.
Current law requires physicians to dispense outpatient prescription drugs and related supplies to patients in their office buildings in order to qualify for an exception (the in-office ancillary services exception) under the Stark law. The bill specifies that, from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2029, physicians may dispense outpatient prescription drugs and related supplies to their patients via mail, and individuals or their family members or caregivers may pick up such items at the physician's office building, if the individual (1) had a face-to-face visit with the prescriber in the prior year, not including telehealth visits; (2) the prescriber furnished other items or services to the individual in the prior year; and (3) the prescriber has an ongoing professional relationship with the individual.
In addition, the bill specifies that external infusion pumps and associated home infusion drugs may be covered under Medicare even if they don't meet certain regulatory requirements, if these items are provided in accordance with the bill's specified criteria, including that the drug is administered under the supervision of a qualified home infusion therapy supplier.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House" stage on September 23, 2024. 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 September 24, 2024: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- 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 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 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?
Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) introduced it on September 18, 2023, and 69 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 29 Democrats, 40 Republicans.
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 18, 2023, 1088 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 716 days ago, on September 24, 2024.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 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