Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement Act

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 and to eliminate the gap in coverage of Medicare prescription drug benefits, to authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate regulations for the reimportation of prescription drugs, and for other purposes.

2/27/2007--Introduced.
Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal provisions prohibiting the Secretary of Health and Human Services from interfering with the negotiations between drug manufacturers and pharmacies and prescription drug plan sponsors. Grants the Secretary authority similar to that of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Defense, and the heads of other Federal agencies and departments that purchase prescription drugs in bulk to negotiate contracts with manufacturers of covered Medicare part D (Voluntary Prescription Drug Benefit Program) drugs.
Eliminates the initial coverage limit on the maximum costs that may be recognized for payment purposes (including the annual deductible) with respect to prescription drug benefits. Pharmaceutical Market Access Act of 2007 - Amends the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to:
(1) repeal certain sections of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 relating to importation of prescription drugs from Canada; and
(2) restore previous law. Amends such restored law to direct the Secretary to promulgate regulations allowing qualifying individuals (in addition to pharmacists and wholesalers) to import covered products. Repeals the mandate that the Secretary require that a foreign seller specify the original source of the product and the amount of each lot of the product originally received. Amends provisions regarding the testing of imported covered products. Declares that specified tests shall not be required unless the importer is a wholesaler. Requires such tests to be conducted by the importer-wholesaler unless a product is a prescription drug subject to the provisions of this Act pertaining to counterfeit-resistant packaging. Classifies prescription drugs as misbranded if they do not incorporate specified counterfeit-resistant technologies in packaging. Directs the Secretary to require that the packaging of any subject drug incorporate specified overt optically variable counterfeit-resistant technologies.


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Sponsor

• Rep. David Wu [D, OR-1]

Committees

• House Energy and Commerce
• 3 more
  • House Energy and Commerce
  • House Ways and Means
  • House Ways and Means
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Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to H.R.1218

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

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Introduced		Voted on by House		Voted on by Senate		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
February 27, 2007

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All Bill Actions

• Mar 07, 2007: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
• Feb 28, 2007: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
• Feb 27, 2007: Referred to House Ways and Means
• Feb 27, 2007: Referred to House Energy and Commerce
• Feb 27, 2007: 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.
• Introduced on Feb 27, 2007.
• Feb 27, 2007: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

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Related Issue Areas:

• Health policy
• Administrative procedure
• Aged
• Business
• 38 more
• Business records
• Congress
• Congressional reporting requirements
• Consumer protection
• Consumers
• Cost control
• Criminal justice
• Data banks
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Drug industry
• Drugs
• Executive departments
• Government information
• Government paperwork
• Governmental investigations
• Health insurance
• Health maintenance organizations
• Identification devices
• Import restrictions
• Imports
• Intellectual property
• Labeling
• Law
• Medical care
• Medical economics
• Medicare
• Medicine
• Packaging
• Prescription pricing
• Product counterfeiting
• Product safety
• Public contracts
• Quality of care
• Retiree health benefits
• Science policy
• Sunset legislation
• Technology
• Trade

Data from the Congressional Research Service

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Blog Coverage

November 04, 2008 stuff about politics

Reference: Bill sponsored by Ros-Lehtinen, R-FL; Bill HR 1218 ; vote number 1999-261 on Jun 30, 1999. Compare this to Obama:. No litmus test; nominate to Court based on their fairness. Q: Could you ever nominate someone to the Supreme ...

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October 24, 2008 CATHOLIC APOLOGETICA: Are there any good Catholics left on the hill?

Reference: Bill sponsored by Ros-Lehtinen, R-FL; Bill HR 1218 ; vote number 1999-261 on Jun 30, 1999. Supported funding contraception and UN family planning. HR 2120—Equity in Prescription Insurance & Contraceptive Coverage Act—A bill ...

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Source: CATHOLIC APOLOGETICA

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June 20, 2008 we prefer "anti-life"

(hr 1218, rc vote #261, 6/30/99) mark udall - supports transporting minors across state lines to obtain abortions without parental notification. (hr 1218, rc vote #261, 6/30/99 and apr 2005) bob schaffer - opposes physician-assisted ...

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Source: The West at Yale

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