I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5297 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend by one year 

the initial enrollment period for Medicare prescription drug benefits and 

for Medicare Advantage plans, to authorize the Secretary of Health 

and Human Services to negotiate fair prices for Medicare prescription 

drugs, and to express the sense of Congress that the Secretary should 

conduct activities to improve outreach and educational efforts with respect to such benefits. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2006 

Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce, 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 

A BILL 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend 

by one year the initial enrollment period for Medicare 

prescription drug benefits and for Medicare Advantage 

plans, to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human 

Services to negotiate fair prices for Medicare prescription 

drugs, and to express the sense of Congress that the 

Secretary should conduct activities to improve outreach 

and educational efforts with respect to such benefits. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Access to 

3 Medicare Part D Act of 2006’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ONE-YEAR EXTENSION OF ENROLLMENT PERIOD 

5 FOR MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENE6 FITS AND MA PLANS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1851(e)(3)(B) of the So8 cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–21(e)(3)(B)) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘May 15, 2006; 

11 and’’ and inserting ‘‘November 14, 2006’’; 

12 (2) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘2007’’ and in13 serting ‘‘2008’’ and redesignating such clause as 

14 clause (v); and 

15 (3) by inserting after clause (iii) the following 

16 new clause: 

17 ‘‘(iv) with respect to 2007, the period 

18 beginning on November 15, 2006, and end19 ing on May 15, 2007; and’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS RELATED TO CON21 TINUOUS OPEN ENROLLMENT AND DISENROLLMENT.— 

22 Section 1851(e)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w– 

23 21(e)(2)) is amended— 

24 (1) in subparagraph (B)— 

25 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘FOR FIRST

26 6 MONTHS’’; 


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1 (B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘, subpara2 graph (C)(iii), and subparagraph (D)’’ and in3 serting ‘‘and subparagraph (E)’’; and 

4 (C) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘during the 

5 first 6 months of 2006’’ and all that follows 

6 through ‘‘is a Medicare+Choice eligible indi7 vidual,’’ and inserting ‘‘during 2006’’; 

8 (2) in subparagraph (C)— 

9 (A) in clause (i)— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (D)’’ 

11 and inserting ‘‘subparagraph (E)’’; and 

12 (ii) by striking ‘‘2006’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘2007’’ each place it appears; and 

14 (B) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘2006’’ and 

15 inserting ‘‘2007’’; 

16 (3) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 

17 (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively; and 

18 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol19 lowing new subparagraph: 

20 ‘‘(C) CONTINUOUS OPEN ENROLLMENT

21 AND DISENROLLMENT FOR FIRST 6 MONTHS

22 DURING 2007.— 

23 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

24 (ii), subparagraph (D)(iii), and subpara25 graph (E), at any time during the first 6 


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1 months of 2007, or, if the individual first 

2 becomes a Medicare Advantage eligible in3 dividual during 2007, during the first 6 

4 months during 2007 in which the indi5 vidual is a Medicare Advantage eligible in6 dividual, a Medicare Advantage eligible in7 dividual may change the election under 

8 subsection (a)(1). 

9 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION OF ONE CHANGE.— 

10 An individual may exercise the right under 

11 clause (i) only once. The limitation under 

12 this clause shall not apply to changes in 

13 elections effected during an annual, coordi14 nated election period under paragraph (3) 

15 or during a special enrollment period under 

16 the first sentence of paragraph (4).’’. 

17 (c) APPLICATION OF ONE-YEAR ENROLLMENT EX18 TENSION AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS TO PART D 

19 BENEFITS.—Section 1860D–1(b) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 1395w–101(b)) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1)(B)(iii), by striking ‘‘sub22 paragraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2) and’’; 

23 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘annual, 

24 coordinated open election period described in section 

25 1851(e)(3)(B)(iii)’’ and inserting ‘‘period beginning 


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1 on the first day of the annual, coordinated open elec2 tion period described in clauses (iii) of section 

3 1851(e)(3)(B) and ending on the last day of the an4 nual, coordinated open election period described in 

5 clause (iv) of such section’’; and 

6 (3) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘before the 

7 period described in subparagraph (A)’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘before the end of the annual, coordinated open elec9 tion period described in section 1851(e)(3)(B)(iv)’’. 

10 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall take effect as if included in the enact12 ment of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, 

13 and Modernization Act of 2003 (Public Law 108–173). 

14 SEC. 3. NEGOTIATING FAIR PRICES FOR MEDICARE PRE15 SCRIPTION DRUGS ON BEHALF OF MEDICARE 

16 BENEFICIARIES. 

17 Section 1860D–11 of the Social Security Act (42 

18 U.S.C. 1395w–111) is amended by striking subsection (i) 

19 (relating to noninterference) and by inserting the fol20 lowing: 

21 ‘‘(i) AUTHORITY TO NEGOTIATE PRICES WITH MAN22 UFACTURERS.—In order to ensure that each part D eligi23 ble individual who is enrolled under a prescription drug 

24 plan or an MA–PD plan pays the lowest possible price 

25 for covered part D drugs, the Secretary shall have authorVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:30 May 07, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5297.IH H5297

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1 ity similar to that of other Federal entities that purchase 

2 prescription drugs in bulk to negotiate contracts with 

3 manufacturers of covered part D drugs, consistent with 

4 the requirements of this part and in furtherance of the 

5 goals of providing quality care and containing costs under 

6 this part.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS RELATED TO IMPROVED 

8 MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT 

9 OUTREACH AND EDUCATION. 

10 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of 

11 Health and Human Services should conduct activities (and 

12 improve current activities conducted by the Secretary), 

13 with respect to individuals eligible for the medicare pre14 scription drug benefits, to— 

15 (1) raise the awareness and improve the edu16 cation of such individuals with respect to such bene17 fits; 

18 (2) improve and enhance outreach and enroll19 ment assistance for such benefits; and 

20 (3) provide for the accessibility of appropriate 

21 experts with respect to such benefits (at national, 

22 State, and local levels) to ensure that such individ23 uals understand the benefits for which they are eligi24 ble. 

Æ 


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