[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 31 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 31

To amend part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act to authorize 
   the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower 
                prices for Medicare prescription drugs.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             January 25 (legislative day, January 5), 2011

  Mr. Franken introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

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                                 A BILL


 
To amend part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act to authorize 
   the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate for lower 
                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 ``Prescription Drug and Health 
Improvement Act of 2011''.

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

    (a) Negotiating Fair Prices.--
            (1) In general.--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 beneficiaries enrolled under prescription drug plans and 
MA-PD plans pay the lowest possible price, 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 and in 
furtherance of the goals of providing quality care and containing costs 
under this part.''.
            (2) Effective date.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Biannual Reports to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and every 6 months thereafter, the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit to Congress a 
report on the negotiations conducted by the Secretary under section 
1860D-11(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-111(i)), as 
amended by subsection (a), including a description of how such 
negotiations are achieving lower prices for covered part D drugs (as 
defined in section 1860D-2(e) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395w-102(e)) for Medicare beneficiaries.
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