Generic Drug Pricing Fairness Act
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 Energy and Power.
Generic Drug Pricing Fairness Act - Amends part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require each contract entered into with a prescription drug plan (PDP) sponsor with respect to a PDP the sponsor offers to prohibit the PDP from entering into a contract with any pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) to manage the prescription drug coverage provided under such plan, or to control the costs of the prescription drug coverage under it, unless the PBM adheres to specified criteria when handling personally identifiable utilization and claims data or other sensitive patient data.
Revises requirements for contracts with PDP sponsors to require that the PDP sponsor disclose to applicable pharmacies the sources used for making any update of the prescription drug pricing standard, and if the source for such a standard is not publicly available, disclose to such pharmacies all individual drug prices to be so updated in advance of their use for the reimbursement of claims. Requires the PDP sponsor, as well, to establish a process to appeal, investigate, and resolve disputes regarding individual drug prices that are less than the pharmacy acquisition price for a drug.
Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD), with respect to the TRICARE retail pharmacy program, to ensure that a contract entered into with a TRICARE managed care support contractor includes requirements to ensure the provision of information regarding the pricing standard for prescription drugs.
Establishes criteria to which a carrier and a PBM must adhere under a contract or an approved plan under which the carrier has an agreement with the PBM to manage prescription drug coverage or to control the costs of such coverage.
Prohibits a PBM under such criteria from: (1) transmitting to a pharmacy owned by the PBM any personally identifiable utilization or claims data relating to an enrolled individual who has not voluntarily elected in writing or via secure electronic means to fill that particular prescription at such a pharmacy; or (2) requiring any enrolled individual to use a retail pharmacy, mail order pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, or other pharmacy entity in which the PBM has an ownership interest, or that has an ownership interest in the PBM, or give an incentive to encourage an enrollee to use the pharmacy if the incentive applies only to those pharmacies.
The summary continues for 1 more paragraph. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on December 9, 2014. 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 December 12, 2014: Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Power.
- 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 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 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?
Doug Collins (R-GA) introduced it on December 9, 2014, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Democrat.
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 December 9, 2014, 4293 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4290 days ago, on December 12, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 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