Improving Access To Affordable Prescription Drugs Act
Latest action · Apr 5, 2017 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 29, 2017
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
This bill amends provisions of various laws relating to prescription-drug pricing and affordability. Specifically, the bill:
- expands reporting requirements for drug manufacturers and establishes corresponding civil penalties for noncompliance;
- adds reporting requirements for certain nonprofit patient-assistance programs;
- requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report to Congress on the impact of patient-assistance programs on prescription-drug pricing and expenditures;
- requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to negotiate prices for certain prescription drugs under the Medicare program;
- requires the GAO to report to Congress on such negotiations conducted by the CMS;
- requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation within the CMS to test specified models for negotiating drug prices;
- establishes reporting requirements, and corresponding civil penalties for noncompliance, for pharmaceutical companies with respect to spikes in prescription-drug prices;
- establishes an excise tax on prescription drugs subject to price spikes;
- lessens prescription-drug cost-sharing requirements under qualified health plans, group health plans, and the Medicare program;
- modifies provisions related to the importation of prescription drugs;
- requires drug manufacturers to provide drug rebates for drugs dispensed to certain low-income individuals under the Medicare program;
- establishes a prize fund for new and more effective treatments of bacterial infections;
- establishes a Center for Clinical Research within the National Institutes of Health;
- modifies provisions related to drug exclusivity;
- allows the Federal Trade Commission to initiate enforcement proceedings against parties to an agreement resolving or settling a patent-infringement claim in connection with the sale of a drug product;
- requires the Food and Drug Administration to establish a database of generic drugs; and
- modifies other provisions related to generic drugs, prescription-drug advertising, and product hopping.
Cosponsors 23
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 29, 2017 to Nov 27, 2018; 3 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MD | Elijah E. Cummings | Original | Mar 29, 2017 |
| D-VT | Peter Welch | Original | Mar 29, 2017 |
| D-CT | Rosa L. DeLauro | Original | Mar 29, 2017 |
| D-WI | Mark Pocan | Apr 5, 2017 | |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Apr 5, 2017 | |
| D-MN | Collin C. Peterson | Apr 6, 2017 | |
| D-MI | John Conyers, Jr. | Apr 6, 2017 | |
| D-NH | Carol Shea-Porter | Apr 25, 2017 | |
| D-MN | Keith Ellison | Apr 25, 2017 | |
| D-CA | Nanette Diaz Barragán | Apr 25, 2017 | |
| D-IL | Bobby L. Rush | May 16, 2017 | |
| D-ME | Chellie Pingree | May 18, 2017 | |
| D-MN | Richard M. Nolan | May 18, 2017 | |
| D-CA | Judy Chu | Jun 6, 2017 | |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Jun 23, 2017 | |
| D-MN | Betty McCollum | Jul 26, 2017 | |
| D-WA | Pramila Jayapal | Sep 6, 2017 | |
| D-OR | Peter A. DeFazio | Oct 24, 2017 | |
| D-OH | Tim Ryan | Oct 24, 2017 | |
| D-IN | Peter J. Visclosky | Nov 1, 2017 | |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | May 21, 2018 | |
| D-CA | Ro Khanna | Jul 25, 2018 | |
| D-NY | Sean Patrick Maloney | Nov 27, 2018 |
Committees 3
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Mar 29, 2017 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Mar 31, 2017 | |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Mar 29, 2017 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Apr 5, 2017 | |
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Mar 29, 2017 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 5, 2017Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Mar 31, 2017Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Mar 29, 2017Introduced in House
- Mar 29, 2017Referred 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 consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 163, no. 55, March 29, 2017, page H2559.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R44951 | Regulatory Exclusivity Reform in the 115th Congress Archived | Report | Sep 15, 2017 |
Related bills 10
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 252 | Medicare Drug Savings Act of 2017 | Related bill | Feb 1, 2017 |
| S 348 | Prescription Drug and Health Improvement Act of 2017 | Related bill | Feb 9, 2017 |
| S 469 | Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act | Related bill | Feb 28, 2017 |
| S 771 | Improving Access To Affordable Prescription Drugs Act | Identical bill | Mar 29, 2017 |
| HR 1245 | Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act | Related bill | Mar 3, 2017 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To improve access to affordable prescription drugs.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Improving Access To Affordable Prescription Drugs Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Administrative remedies
- Business records
- Canada
- Cancer
- Civil actions and liability
- Competition and antitrust
- Congressional oversight
- Consumer affairs
- Corporate finance and management
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
- Drug therapy
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
- Government information and archives
- Government studies and investigations
- Government trust funds
- Health
- Health care costs and insurance
- Health care coverage and access
- Health programs administration and funding
- Income tax deductions
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Inflation and prices
- Judicial review and appeals
- Licensing and registrations
- Marketing and advertising
- Medicaid
- Medical research
- Medicare
- National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- Prescription drugs
- Public contracts and procurement
- Research and development
- Retail and wholesale trades
- Trade restrictions
- User charges and fees
- Veterans' medical care
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 29, 2017Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
