I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 6844 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to prohibit the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services from entering into contracts with PDP 
sponsors of prescription drug plans that have a contract with certain 
pharmacy benefits managers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 15, 2023 
Ms. TENNEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
Ways and Means, 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 prohibit 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services from enter-
ing into contracts with PDP sponsors of prescription 
drug plans that have a contract with certain pharmacy 
benefits managers. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ensuring PBM Com-
petition Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROHIBITING THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND 
HUMAN SERVICES FROM ENTERING INTO 
CONTRACTS WITH PDP SPONSORS OF PRE-
SCRIPTION DRUG PLANS THAT HAVE A CON-
TRACT WITH CERTAIN PHARMACY BENEFITS 
MANAGERS. 
Section 1860D–12(b) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395w–112(b)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(9) PROHIBITION
ON
ENTERING
INTO
CON-
TRACTS WITH PDP SPONSORS THAT HAVE A CON-
TRACT WITH A CERTAIN PHARMACY BENEFITS MAN-
AGERS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (B), beginning on the date that is 5 
years after the date of enactment of this para-
graph, the Secretary shall not enter into, or 
renew, a contract with a PDP sponsor for the 
offering of a prescription drug plan in a PDP 
region for a year if such sponsor has a contract 
for such year with a pharmacy benefits man-
ager that, directly or indirectly, or through one 
or more intermediaries, owns, controls, or oth-
erwise has a financial interest in, a pharmacy. 
‘‘(B) AUTHORITY
TO
DELAY
REQUIRE-
MENT.—The Secretary may delay the require-
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ment in subparagraph (A) by not more than 2 
years. 
‘‘(C) PHARMACY BENEFITS MANAGER DE-
FINED.—For purposes of this paragraph, the 
term ‘pharmacy benefits manager’ means any 
entity (or any affiliate, subsidiary, or agent of 
such entity) that, pursuant to an agreement 
with a PDP sponsor, either directly or through 
an intermediary acts as a price negotiator or 
group purchaser on behalf of such sponsor, or 
manages the prescription drug benefits provided 
by such sponsor, including the processing and 
paying claims for covered part D drugs, per-
forming drug utilization review, processing drug 
prior authorization requests, adjudicating ap-
peals or grievances related to covered part D 
drugs, contracting with network pharmacies, 
controlling the cost of such drugs, or providing 
any services related to managing such drug 
benefits.’’. 
Æ 
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