118th Congress Health
S. 652: Safe Step Act
Introduced
- Introduced (completed)
- Passed Senate (not reached)
- Passed House (not reached)
- To the President (not reached)
- Became law (not reached)
Summary
Safe Step Act
This bill requires a group health plan to establish an exception to medication step-therapy protocol in specified cases. A medication step-therapy protocol establishes a specific sequence in which prescription drugs are covered by a group health plan or a health insurance issuer.
A request for such an exception to the protocol must be granted if (1) an otherwise required treatment has been ineffective, (2) such treatment is expected to be ineffective and delaying effective treatment would lead to irreversible consequences, (3) such treatment will cause or is likely to cause an adverse reaction to the individual, (4) such treatment is expected to prevent the individual from performing daily activities or occupational responsibilities, (5) the individual is stable based on the prescription drugs already selected, or (6) there are other circumstances as determined by the Employee Benefits Security Administration.
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The bill requires a group health plan to implement and make readily available a clear process for an individual to request an exception to the protocol, including required information and criteria for granting an exception. The bill further specifies timelines under which plans must respond to such requests.
Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Roll calls
No roll call votes have been held on this bill.
Amendments
No amendments were offered to this bill.
Cosponsors
- Richard Blumenthal D-CTOriginal
- Susan Collins R-MEOriginal
- Shelley Capito R-WVOriginal
- Robert Casey D-PAOriginal
- Kevin Cramer R-NDOriginal
- Catherine Cortez Masto D-NVOriginal
- Kirsten Gillibrand D-NYOriginal
- Margaret Hassan D-NHOriginal
- Cindy Hyde-Smith R-MSOriginal
- Timothy Kaine D-VAOriginal
- Cynthia Lummis R-WYOriginal
- Jeff Merkley D-OROriginal
- Roger Marshall R-KSOriginal
- Jacky Rosen D-NVOriginal
- Kyrsten Sinema I-AZOriginal
- Tina Smith D-MNOriginal
- Thom Tillis R-NCOriginal
- Roger Wicker R-MSOriginal
- John Boozman R-AR
- Raphael Warnock D-GA
- Cory Booker D-NJ
- Martin Heinrich D-NM
- Mark Kelly D-AZ
- Angus King I-ME
- Debbie Stabenow D-MI
- Michael Bennet D-CO
- Jerry Moran R-KS
- Jon Ossoff D-GA
- Chris Van Hollen D-MD
- Jeanne Shaheen D-NH
- Ted Budd R-NC
- Gary Peters D-MI
- Joe Manchin I-WV
- Dan Sullivan R-AK
- John Fetterman D-PA
- Mazie Hirono D-HI
- Alejandro Padilla D-CA
- Christopher Murphy D-CT
- John Hickenlooper D-CO
- Christopher Coons D-DE
- Deb Fischer R-NE
- Ron Wyden D-OR
- Elizabeth Warren D-MA
- Sheldon Whitehouse D-RI
- Jon Tester D-MT
- Peter Welch D-VT
- Mark Warner D-VA
- Tammy Duckworth D-IL
Who scored on this bill
- 1Lisa Murkowski SponsorDrew cross-party cosponsors, introduced, reached a cosponsor milestone3 events+12
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Introductions and cosponsorships count toward weekly caps and show no points.
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History
- Introduced in the Senate by Lisa Murkowski.
Show the full action history (2 actions)
- Introduced in Senate
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.