[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2536 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2536

 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify that section 
  1927 of that Act does not prohibit a State from entering into drug 
   rebate agreements in order to make outpatient prescription drugs 
   accessible and affordable for residents of the State who are not 
 otherwise eligible for medical assistance under the medicaid program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 21, 2002

 Ms. Stabenow (for herself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Jeffords, Mrs. 
Boxer, Mr. Levin, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. Johnson) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                               on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to clarify that section 
  1927 of that Act does not prohibit a State from entering into drug 
   rebate agreements in order to make outpatient prescription drugs 
   accessible and affordable for residents of the State who are not 
 otherwise eligible for medical assistance under the medicaid program.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Rx Flexibility for States Act''.

SEC. 2. CLARIFICATION OF STATE AUTHORITY RELATING TO MEDICAID DRUG 
              REBATE AGREEMENTS.

    Section 1927 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396r-8) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed as prohibiting a State from--
            ``(1) directly entering into rebate agreements that are 
        similar to a rebate agreement described in subsection (b) with 
        a manufacturer for purposes of ensuring the affordability of 
        outpatient prescription drugs in order to provide access to 
        such drugs by residents of a State who are not otherwise 
        eligible for medical assistance under this title; or
            ``(2) making prior authorization (that satisfies the 
        requirements of subsection (d) and that does not violate any 
        requirements of this title that are designed to ensure access 
        to medically necessary prescribed drugs for individuals 
        enrolled in the State program under this title) a condition of 
        not participating in such a similar rebate agreement.''.
                                 <all>