[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1246 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1246

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to strengthen the drug 
            pricing reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 20, 2023

 Ms. Klobuchar (for herself, Mr. Welch, Mrs. Gillibrand, Mr. Heinrich, 
 Mr. Merkley, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Reed, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Blumenthal, 
Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Hassan, Mr. King, Ms. Cantwell, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. 
Baldwin, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Brown, Mr. Booker, Ms. Smith, Ms. Warren, Mrs. 
   Murray, Mr. Cardin, Ms. Duckworth, and Mr. Markey) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                                Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to strengthen the drug 
            pricing reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act.

    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 ``Strengthening Medicare And Reducing 
Taxpayer Prices Act'' or the ``SMART Prices Act''.

SEC. 2. REPEAL OF THE MEDICARE PART D NONINTERFERENCE CLAUSE.

    Section 1860D-11 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-111) 
is amended by striking subsection (i).

SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE MEDICARE DRUG PRICE NEGOTIATION PROGRAM.

    (a) Acceleration of the Selection of Negotiation-Eligible Drugs.--
            (1) In general.--Section 1192(a) of the Social Security Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 1320f-1(a)) is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (1)--
                            (i) by striking ``10'' and inserting 
                        ``20''; and
                            (ii) by inserting ``and'' after the 
                        semicolon at the end;
                    (B) by striking paragraph (2) and redesignating 
                paragraph (3) as paragraph (2);
                    (C) in paragraph (2), as redesignated by 
                subparagraph (B) of this paragraph--
                            (i) by striking ``2028, 15 negotiation-
                        eligible drugs'' and inserting ``2027 or a 
                        subsequent year, 40 negotiation-eligible 
                        drugs''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``; and'' at the end and 
                        inserting a period; and
                    (D) by striking paragraph (4).
            (2) Conforming amendments.--Section 1192 of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320f-1) is amended--
                    (A) in subsection (b)(2)--
                            (i) in the paragraph heading, by striking 
                        ``and 2027''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``and with respect to the 
                        initial price applicability year 2027''; and
                    (B) in subsection (d)(1), in the matter preceding 
                subparagraph (A), by striking ``or 2027''.
    (b) Improvements to the Definition of Qualifying Single Source 
Drug.--Section 1192(e)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320f-
1(e)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)(ii), by striking ``7 years'' and 
        inserting ``3 years''; and
            (2) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``11 years'' and 
        inserting ``3 years''.
    (c) Improvement to the Ceiling for Maximum Fair Price.--Section 
1194(c)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320f-3(c)(3)) is 
amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``75 percent'' and 
        inserting ``76 percent'';
            (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``65 percent'' and 
        inserting ``55 percent''; and
            (3) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``40 percent'' and 
        inserting ``30 percent''.
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