Teacher:In this task, you are given text for US Congressional and California state bills, your task is to generate a summary for this bill.
Teacher: Now, understand the problem? Solve this instance: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ''Community Pharmacy Preservation Act
of 2004''.

SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF THE ANTITRUST LAWS TO INDEPENDENT PHARMACIES
NEGOTIATING WITH HEALTH PLANS.

(a) In General.--Any independent pharmacies who are engaged in
negotiations with a health plan regarding the terms of any contract
under which the pharmacies provide health care items or services for
which benefits are provided under such plan shall, in connection with
such negotiations, be entitled to the same treatment under the
antitrust laws as the treatment to which bargaining units which are
recognized under the National Labor Relations Act are entitled in
connection with such collective bargaining. Such a pharmacy shall, only
in connection with such negotiations, be treated as an employee engaged
in concerted activities and shall not be regarded as having the status
of an employer, independent contractor, managerial employee, or
supervisor.
(b) Protection for Good Faith Actions.--Actions taken in good faith
reliance on subsection (a) shall not be the subject under the antitrust
laws of criminal sanctions nor of any civil damages, fees, or penalties
beyond actual damages incurred.
(c) Limitation.--
(1) No new right for collective cessation of service.--The
exemption provided in subsection (a) shall not confer any new
right to participate in any collective cessation of service to
patients not already permitted by existing law.
(2) No change in national labor relations act.--This
section applies only to independent pharmacies excluded from
the National Labor Relations Act. Nothing in this section shall
be construed as changing or amending any provision of the
National Labor Relations Act, or as affecting the status of any
group of persons under that Act.
(d) Effective Date.--The exemption provided in subsection (a) shall
apply to conduct occurring beginning on the date of the enactment of
this Act.
(e) Limitation on Exemption.--Nothing in this section shall exempt
from the application of the antitrust laws any agreement or otherwise
unlawful conspiracy that excludes, limits the participation or
reimbursement of, or otherwise limits the scope of services to be
provided by any independent pharmacy or group of independent pharmacies
with respect to the performance of services that are within their scope
of practice as defined or permitted by relevant law or regulation.
(f) No Effect on Title VI of Civil Rights Act of 1964.--Nothing in
this section shall be construed to affect the application of title VI
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
(g) No Application to Federal Programs.--Nothing in this section
shall apply to negotiations between independent pharmacies and health
plans pertaining to benefits provided under any of the following:
(1) The Medicaid Program under title XIX of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.).
(2) The SCHIP program under title XXI of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.).
(3) Chapter 55 of title 10, United States Code (relating to
medical and dental care for members of the uniformed services).
(4) Chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code (relating to
Veterans' medical care).
(5) Chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code (relating to
the Federal employees' health benefits program).
(6) The Indian Health Care Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1601
et seq.).
(h) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
(1) Antitrust laws.--The term ''antitrust laws''--
(A) has the meaning given it in subsection (a) of
the first section of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12(a)),
except that such term includes section 5 of the Federal
Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the extent such
section 5 applies to unfair methods of competition; and
(B) includes any State law similar to the laws
referred to in subparagraph (A).
(2) Health plan and related terms.--
(A) In general.--The term ''health plan'' means a
group health plan or a health insurance issuer that is
offering health insurance coverage.
(B) Health insurance coverage; health insurance
issuer.--The terms ''health insurance coverage'' and
''health insurance issuer'' have the meanings given
such terms under paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively,
of section 733(b) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1191b(b)).
(C) Group health plan.--The term ''group health
plan'' has the meaning given that term in section
733(a)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1191b(a)(1)).
(3) Independent pharmacy.--The term ''independent
pharmacy'' means a pharmacy which is not owned (or operated) by
a publicly traded company. For purposes of the previous
sentence, the term ''publicly traded company'' means a company
that is an issuer within the meaning of section 2(a)(7) of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7201(a)(7)).

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGERS.

(a) Prohibition on Cross Ownership.--
(1) In general.--No pharmaceutical drug manufacturer may
have a controlling interest in an entity that is a pharmacy
benefit manager.
(2) Penalty.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services
may issue such civil penalties for a violation of paragraph (1)
as the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines
necessary.
(b) Drug Interchange.--
(1) Prohibitions.--
(A) Cost increase.--A pharmacy benefit manager
shall not make any drug interchange proposal for an
individual who is served by such manager where the net
cost of the drug to which the prescription would be
changed exceeds that of the drug from which the
prescription would be changed.
(B) Disclosure to individual.--A pharmacy benefit
manager shall not make any drug interchange for an
individual who is served by such manager unless the
pharmacy benefit manager discloses to the individual,
in a clear and conspicuous manner, the savings to the
individual associated with such interchange.
(C) Generics.--A pharmacy benefit manager shall not
make any drug interchange proposal for an individual
who is served by such manager if the drug from which
the prescription would be changed has generic
equivalents and the drug to which the prescription
would be changed has no generic equivalents, unless the
drug to which the prescription would be changed has a
lower net cost to the individual than does each of the
generic equivalents of the drug from which the
prescription would be changed.
(2) Penalty.--A pharmacy benefit manager that violates
subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1) with respect to
an individual and presents a claim for payment to the United
States Government as reimbursement for services to such
individual, shall be considered in violation of section 3729 of
title 31, United States Code.
(c) Disclosure of Compensation From Drug Manufacturers.--
(1) Quarterly and annual disclosures.--At the end of each
fiscal year quarter, each pharmacy benefit manager shall
disclose--
(A) to the client plans of such manager and to the
Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, all
compensation and remuneration that the pharmacy benefit
manager received during such fiscal year quarter from a
pharmaceutical drug manufacturer, including, regardless
of how categorized, market share incentives,
commissions, mail service purchase discounts, and
administrative or management fees; and
(B) to the client plans of such manager, any fees
received for sales of utilization data to a
pharmaceutical drug manufacturer.
(2) Disclosure at contracting stage.--Each pharmacy benefit
manager shall disclose to each client plan and prospective
client plan of such manager, in advance of executing an
agreement with such plan, information relating to the pharmacy
benefit manager's methodology of soliciting and receiving
payments from pharmaceutical drug manufacturers.
(d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
(1) Client plan.--The term ''client plan'' means a
pharmaceutical plan in which the entity that offers such plan
to its beneficiaries contracts directly with a pharmacy benefit
manager to provide or administer such plan.
(2) Drug interchange.--The term ''drug interchange'' means
any change from one prescription drug to another prescription
drug that is intended to address or treat the same illness or
condition.

SEC. 4. COMMUNITY PHARMACY ACCESS STANDARDS UNDER THE MEDICARE
OUTPATIENT PRESCRIPTION DRUG PROGRAM.

In establishing rules under subparagraph (C) of section 1860D-
4(b)(1) of the Social Security Act, as added by the Medicare
Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (Public
Law 108-173), for convenient access to non-mail-order pharmacies
consistent with the application of standards under clause (ii) of such
subparagraph, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall provide
for application of the following standards:
(1)(A) In each urban area, at least 90 percent of Medicare
beneficiaries in a plan's service area, on average, live within
2 miles of a retail pharmacy participation in the prescription
drug plan's or MA-PD plan's network.
(B) In each suburban area, at least 90 percent of Medicare
beneficiaries in a plan's service area, on average, live within
5 miles of a retail pharmacy participation in the prescription
drug plan's or MA-PD plan's network.
(C) In each rural area, at least 70 percent of Medicare
beneficiaries in a plan's service area, on average, live within
15 miles of a retail pharmacy participation in the prescription
drug plan's or MA-PD plan's network.
(D) There shall be no averaging of such distances across or
among urban, suburban, and rural areas.
(2) The rules shall require plans to measure traveling
distances from beneficiaries' homes to community pharmacies
based on commonly traveled routes.
Student:
Community Pharmacy Preservation Act of 2004 - Provides that antitrust laws shall apply to negotiations between groups of independent pharmacies and health plans and health insurance issuers in the same manner as such laws apply to collective bargaining by labor organizations under the National Labor Relations Act.

Prohibits any pharmaceutical drug manufacturer from having a controlling interest in an entity that is a pharmacy benefit manager. Requires pharmacy benefit managers to disclose all compensation from drug manufacturers. Prohibits pharmacy benefit managers from making certain drug interchanges: (1) to a drug with a greater cost; (2) without disclosure to the individual; or (3) from a drug with generic equivalents to a drug without generic equivalents, unless the latter is lower in cost than each of the generic equivalents of the drug from which the prescription would be changed.

Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to apply specified standards for community pharmacy access under the Medicare outpatient prescription drug program.