[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 445 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 445

To amend part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act, as added by 
 the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 
     2003, to provide for negotiation of fair prices for Medicare 
                          prescription drugs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 17, 2005

 Ms. Stabenow (for herself, Mr. Carper, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Schumer, Mr. 
  Bingaman, and Mr. Johnson) introduced the following bill; which was 
          read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act, as added by 
 the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 
     2003, to provide for negotiation of fair prices for Medicare 
                          prescription drugs.

    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 ``Medicare Prescription Drug Price 
Reduction Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. NEGOTIATING FAIR PRICES FOR MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUGS.

    Section 1860D-11 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-111) 
is amended by striking subsection (i) (relating to noninterference) and 
by inserting the following:
    ``(i) Authority To Negotiate Prices With Manufacturers.--In order 
to ensure that each part D eligible individual who is enrolled under a 
prescription drug plan or an MA-PD plan pays the lowest possible price 
for covered part D drugs, the Secretary shall have authority similar to 
that of other Federal entities that purchase prescription drugs in bulk 
to negotiate contracts with manufacturers of covered part D drugs, 
consistent with the requirements of this part and in furtherance of the 
goals of providing quality care and containing costs under this 
part.''.
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