II 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2460 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require e-prescribing 

for coverage under part D of the Medicare program of prescription 

drugs that are controlled substances. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2018 

Mr. BENNET (for himself, Mr. HELLER, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. TOOMEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to require 

e-prescribing for coverage under part D of the Medicare 

program of prescription drugs that are controlled substances. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Every Prescription 

5 Conveyed Securely Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIRING E-PRESCRIBING FOR COVERAGE OF 

2 COVERED PART D CONTROLLED SUB3 STANCES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1860D–4(e) of the Social 

5 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–104(e)) is amended by 

6 adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(7) REQUIREMENT OF E-PRESCRIBING FOR

8 CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara10 graph (B), a prescription for a covered part D 

11 drug under a prescription drug plan (or under 

12 an MA–PD plan) for a schedule II, III, IV, or 

13 V controlled substance shall be transmitted by 

14 a health care practitioner electronically in ac15 cordance with an electronic prescription drug 

16 program that meets the requirements of para17 graph (2). 

18 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN CIR19 CUMSTANCES.—The Secretary shall, pursuant 

20 to rulemaking, specify circumstances with re21 spect to which the Secretary may waive the re22 quirement under subparagraph (A), with re23 spect to a covered part D drug, including in the 

24 case of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) a prescription issued when the 

2 prescriber and dispenser are the same enti3 ty; 

4 ‘‘(ii) a prescription issued that cannot 

5 be transmitted electronically due to the 

6 constraints of the most recently imple7 mented version of the National Council for 

8 Prescription Drug Programs SCRIPT 

9 Standard; 

10 ‘‘(iii) a prescription issued by a practi11 tioner who has received a waiver or a re12 newal thereof for a specified period deter13 mined by the Secretary, not to exceed one 

14 year, from the requirement to use elec15 tronic prescribing, pursuant to a process 

16 established by regulation by the Secretary, 

17 due to demonstrated economic hardship, 

18 technological limitations that are not rea19 sonably within the control of the practi20 tioner, or other exceptional circumstance 

21 demonstrated by the practitioner; 

22 ‘‘(iv) a prescription issued by a practi23 tioner under circumstances in which, not24 withstanding the practitioner’s ability to 

25 make an electronic prescription as required 


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1 by this subsection, such practitioner rea2 sonably determines that it would be im3 practical for the individual involved to ob4 tain substances prescribed by electronic 

5 prescription in a timely manner, and such 

6 delay would adversely impact the individ7 ual’s medical condition involved; 

8 ‘‘(v) a prescription issued by a practi9 tioner allowing for the dispensing of a non10 patient specific prescription pursuant to a 

11 standing order, approved protocol for drug 

12 therapy, collaborative drug management, 

13 or comprehensive medication management, 

14 in response to a public health emergency, 

15 or other circumstances where the practi16 tioner may issue a non-patient specific pre17 scription; 

18 ‘‘(vi) a prescription issued by a practi19 tioner prescribing a drug under a research 

20 protocol; 

21 ‘‘(vii) a prescription issued by a prac22 titioner for a drug for which the Food and 

23 Drug Administration requires the prescrip24 tion to contain certain elements that are 

25 not able to be accomplished with electronic 


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1 prescribing such as, a drug with risk eval2 uation and mitigation strategies that in3 clude elements to assure safe use; and 

4 ‘‘(viii) a prescription issued by a prac5 titioner for an individual who— 

6 ‘‘(I) receives hospice care under 

7 this title; or 

8 ‘‘(II) is a resident of a long-term 

9 care facility, of a facility described in 

10 section 1905(d), or of another facility 

11 for which frequently abused drugs are 

12 dispensed for residents through a con13 tract with a single pharmacy. 

14 ‘‘(C) DISPENSING.—(i) Nothing in this 

15 paragraph shall be construed as requiring a 

16 sponsor of a prescription drug plan under this 

17 part, MA organization offering an MA–PD plan 

18 under part C, or a pharmacist to verify that a 

19 practitioner, with respect to a prescription for a 

20 covered part D drug, has a waiver (or is other21 wise exempt) under subparagraph (B) from the 

22 requirement under subparagraph (A). 

23 ‘‘(ii) Nothing in this paragraph shall be 

24 construed as affecting the ability of the plan to 

25 cover or the pharmacists’ ability to continue to 


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1 dispense covered part D drugs from otherwise 

2 valid written, oral or fax prescriptions that are 

3 consistent with laws and regulations. 

4 ‘‘(iii) Nothing in this paragraph shall be 

5 construed as affecting the ability of an indi6 vidual who is being prescribed a covered part D 

7 drug to designate a particular pharmacy to dis8 pense the covered part D drug to the extent 

9 consistent with the requirements under sub10 section (b)(1) and under this paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(D) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary 

12 shall, pursuant to rulemaking, have authority to 

13 enforce and specify appropriate penalties for 

14 noncompliance with the requirement under sub15 paragraph (A).’’. 

16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

17 subsection (a) shall apply to coverage of drugs prescribed 

18 on or after January 1, 2020. 

Æ 


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