II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 113 

To require the Federal Trade Commission to study the role of intermediaries 

in the pharmaceutical supply chain and provide Congress with appropriate policy recommendations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 26, 2023 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

LANKFORD, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. TUBERVILLE, Mr. TILLIS, Mrs. CAPITO, and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require the Federal Trade Commission to study the role 

of intermediaries in the pharmaceutical supply chain and 

provide Congress with appropriate policy recommendations, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Prescription Pricing 

5 for the People Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

5 Senate; and 

6 (B) the Committee on the Judiciary of the 

7 House of Representatives. 

8 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

9 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

10 SEC. 3. STUDY OF PHARMACEUTICAL SUPPLY CHAIN 

11 INTERMEDIARIES AND MERGER ACTIVITY. 

12 (a) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to 

14 the appropriate committees of Congress a report that— 

15 (1) addresses at minimum— 

16 (A) whether pharmacy benefit managers— 

17 (i) charge payers a higher price than 

18 the reimbursement rate at which the phar19 macy benefit managers reimburse phar20 macies owned by the pharmacy benefit 

21 manager and pharmacies not owned by the 

22 pharmacy benefit manager; 

23 (ii) steer patients for competitive ad24 vantage to any pharmacy, including a re25 tail, mail-order, or any other type of pharVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:22 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S113.IS S113

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1 macy, in which the pharmacy benefit man2 agers have an ownership interest; 

3 (iii) audit or review proprietary data, 

4 including acquisition costs, patient infor5 mation, or dispensing information, of phar6 macies not owned by the pharmacy benefit 

7 manager and use such proprietary data to 

8 increase revenue or market share for com9 petitive advantage; or 

10 (iv) use formulary designs to increase 

11 the market share of higher cost prescrip12 tion drugs or depress the market share of 

13 lower cost prescription drugs (each net of 

14 rebates and discounts); 

15 (B) trends or observations on the state of 

16 competition in the healthcare supply chain, par17 ticularly with regard to intermediaries and their 

18 integration with other intermediaries, suppliers, 

19 or payers of prescription drug benefits; 

20 (C) how companies and payers assess the 

21 benefits, costs, and risks of contracting with 

22 intermediaries, including pharmacy services ad23 ministrative organizations, and whether more 

24 information about the roles of intermediaries 


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1 should be available to consumers and payers; 

2 and 

3 (D) whether there are any specific legal or 

4 regulatory obstacles the Commission currently 

5 faces in enforcing the antitrust and consumer 

6 protection laws in the pharmaceutical supply 

7 chain, including the pharmacy benefit manager 

8 marketplace and pharmacy services administra9 tive organizations; and 

10 (2) provides— 

11 (A) observations or conclusions drawn 

12 from the November 2017 roundtable entitled 

13 ‘‘Understanding Competition in Prescription 

14 Drug Markets: Entry and Supply Chain Dy15 namics’’ and any similar efforts; 

16 (B) specific actions the Commission in17 tends to take as a result of the November 2017 

18 roundtable, and any similar efforts, including a 

19 detailed description of relevant forthcoming ac20 tions, additional research or roundtable discus21 sions, consumer education efforts, or enforce22 ment actions; and 

23 (C) policy or legislative recommendations 

24 to— 


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1 (i) improve transparency and competi2 tion in the pharmaceutical supply chain; 

3 (ii) prevent and deter anticompetitive 

4 behavior in the pharmaceutical supply 

5 chain; and 

6 (iii) best ensure that consumers ben7 efit from any cost savings or efficiencies 

8 that may result from mergers and consoli9 dations. 

10 (b) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission 

12 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 

13 an interim report on the progress of the report required 

14 by subsection (a), along with preliminary findings and 

15 conclusions based on information collected to that date. 

16 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

17 The Commission shall submit to the appropriate com18 mittees of Congress a report that includes— 

19 (1) the number and nature of complaints re20 ceived by the Commission relating to an allegation 

21 of anticompetitive conduct by a manufacturer of a 

22 sole-source drug; 

23 (2) the ability of the Commission to bring an 

24 enforcement action against a manufacturer of a sole25 source drug; and 


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1 (3) policy or legislative recommendations to 

2 strengthen enforcement actions relating to anti3 competitive behavior. 

Æ 


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