Increasing Medication Access for Seniors Act of 2024

[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8725 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 8725

  To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to 
 Congress a report on the option to elect to pay cost-sharing under a 
    prescription drug plan or MA-PD plan in monthly capped amounts.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 13, 2024

Ms. Caraveo (for herself, Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia, and Mr. Kean of New 
   Jersey) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on 
   Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

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                                 A BILL


 
  To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit to 
 Congress a report on the option to elect to pay cost-sharing under a 
    prescription drug plan or MA-PD plan in monthly capped amounts.

    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 ``Increasing Medication Access for 
Seniors Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. REPORTS ON MEDICARE PART D MONTHLY CAPPED COST-SHARING OPTION.

    (a) Reports.--Not later than March 31, 2026, and not less 
frequently than every year thereafter until March 31, 2031, the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this section referred to as 
the ``Secretary'') shall submit to Congress a report on the option to 
elect to pay cost-sharing under a prescription drug plan or MA-PD plan 
in monthly capped amounts under section 1860D-2(b)(2)(E)(i) of the 
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-102(b)(2)(E)(i)), including, with 
respect to the 1-year period ending on the date that is 1 year before 
the date on which the report is required to be submitted--
            (1) the number of Medicare part D enrollees who made such 
        an election during such period;
            (2) an estimate of the number of Medicare part D enrollees 
        who did not make such an election and incurred out-of-pocket 
        costs with respect to covered part D drugs during such period 
        that make it likely such enrollees may benefit from making such 
        an election, as determined by the Secretary;
            (3) a description of any steps taken by the Secretary 
        during such period to implement a mechanism to allow a Medicare 
        part D enrollee to make such election at the point-of-sale of a 
        covered part D drug, including information on how such a 
        mechanism may be made available for every Medicare part D 
        enrollee;
            (4) a description of each method used by the Secretary 
        during such period to facilitate making such an election, 
        including--
                    (A) the Medicare.gov website;
                    (B) the notice distributed pursuant to section 
                1804(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395b-
                2(a)) (commonly known as the Medicare & You handbook);
                    (C) the toll-free telephone number 1-800-MEDICARE; 
                and
                    (D) resources for health care providers; and
            (5) a description of any other outreach efforts the 
        Secretary conducted with respect to such option during such 
        period, including outreach to--
                    (A) health care provider associations and 
                societies;
                    (B) patient and consumer advocacy groups that 
                represent Medicare part D enrollees;
                    (C) pharmacy benefit managers;
                    (D) pharmacies; and
                    (E) health insurance providers.
    (b) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Medicare part d enrollee.--The term ``Medicare part D 
        enrollee'' means an individual enrolled in a prescription drug 
        plan or MA-PD plan under part D of title XVIII of the Social 
        Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-101 et seq.).
            (2) Medicare part d terms.--The terms ``covered part D 
        drug'', ``prescription drug plan'', and ``MA-PD plan'' have the 
        meanings given each such term in part D of title XVIII of the 
        Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-101 et seq.).
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