Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act

Bill: 117-hr-3
Sponsor: Rep. Pallone, Frank, Jr. [D-NJ-6]
Introduced: 2021-04-22 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Advanced technology and technological innovations
Appropriations
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Civil actions and liability
Congressional oversight
Customs enforcement
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Labor
Department of the Treasury
Digestive and metabolic diseases
Drug safety, medical device, and laboratory regulation
Drug therapy
Drug trafficking and controlled substances
Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
Employee benefits and pensions
Executive agency funding and structure
First responders and emergency personnel
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Government trust funds
Health care costs and insurance
Health care quality
Health information and medical records
Health programs administration and funding
Health promotion and preventive care
Health technology, devices, supplies
Immunology and vaccination
Inflation and prices
Insurance industry and regulation
Manufacturing
Marketing and advertising
Medical research
Medical tests and diagnostic methods
Medicare
Mental health
Performance measurement
Prescription drugs
Public contracts and procurement
Public-private cooperation
Research administration and funding
Research and development
Retail and wholesale trades
Sales and excise taxes
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: 

Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act

 
This bill establishes several programs and requirements relating to the prices of prescription drugs. 
 
In particular, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to negotiate prices for certain drugs (current law prohibits HHS from doing so). Specifically, HHS must negotiate maximum prices for single-source, brand-name drugs that lack certain generics and that are among either the 125 drugs that account for the greatest national spending or the 125 drugs that account for the greatest Medicare spending. HHS must negotiate the prices of at least 25 such drugs for 2024 and of at least 50 such drugs thereafter and must also negotiate prices for certain newly approved drugs and for insulin products. The negotiated prices must be offered under Medicare and may also be offered under private health insurance unless the insurer opts out. 
 
The negotiated maximum price may not exceed (1) 120% of the average price in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom; or (2) if such information is not available, 85% of the U.S. average manufacturer price. Drug manufacturers that fail to comply with the bill's negotiation requirements are subject to civil and tax penalties.
 
The bill also makes a series of additional changes to Medicare prescription drug coverage and pricing, including by (1) requiring drug manufacturers to issue rebates to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for covered drugs that cost $100 or more and for which the average manufacturer price increases faster than inflation, and (2) capping annual out-of-pocket spending under the Medicare prescription drug benefit.
 
The bill also requires drug manufacturers to report specified information for certain high-cost drugs, and it provides funds for opioid epidemic initiatives and biomedical research.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2021-04-27
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
action_date: 2021-04-23
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Oversight and Reform, and Veterans' Affairs, 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.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Oversight and Reform, and Veterans' Affairs, 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.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Oversight and Reform, and Veterans' Affairs, 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.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Oversight and Reform, and Veterans' Affairs, 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.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Education and Labor, Oversight and Reform, and Veterans' Affairs, 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.
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2021-04-22
text: Introduced in House