VotedBy VotedBy ⌕
Election Day · Tue, Nov 3See how your members of Congress voted →

H.R. 2279 · 116th Congress

Safe Step Act

Key: what the circles and colors mean

Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:

IntroducedPassed one chamberPassed both chambersBecame law (gold)Resolution agreed to (full, dark)Failed or vetoed (gray)

Under the number: the Yea · Nay count of its final (or latest) recorded vote. On a member's page, the small badge is how that member voted: Y Yea / Aye, N Nay / No, P Present, – Not voting.

Gold and violet are only for Yea and Nay; they never mean a party. A member's party is the letter on their photo.

Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 116th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.

RRD RuizSponsor
157 cosponsors · 105 D, 52 R
BWR Wenstrup PAD Aguilar ABD Bera SCR Chabot SCD Cohen MDD Doyle BFR Fitzpatrick RGD Grijalva JJR Joyce PKR King RKD Kelly SMD Moulton DPD Price PRR Roe KRD Rice MRD Rose ESR Stefanik JVD Van Drew JBD Brownley WCD Clay SDD DelBene AFD Finkenauer TGD Gabbard JHR Herrera Beutler AKR Kinzinger RKD Krishnamoorthi ALD Levin CPD Pingree CRD Ruppersberger JRD Raskin HRD Rouda ASD Schiff DSD Soto MTR Turner MTD Takano PVD Visclosky SWR Womack BWD Watson Coleman SWD Wild DYR Young ECD Case NDR Dunn BGR Gibbs KHD Horn HJD Johnson AKD Kuster JKR Katko ALD Lowenthal TLD Lieu SMD Maloney RMR Marshall END Norton BSD Sherman SSR Stivers RWR Wittman JYD Yarmuth BBD Boyle YCD Clarke PDD DeFazio ADD Delgado JGD Gottheimer AKD Kirkpatrick ZLD Lofgren SLD Lynch CLD Lamb EPD Perlmutter FSR Sensenbrenner MSD Scanlon AWR Wagner JMD McGovern RSR Spano KSD Schrier TCD Cox AGR Gonzalez DKD Kilmer SPR Palazzo JCD Crow AHR Harris BPR Posey TBR Budd AKD Kim KMR Marchant DJR Joyce SDD Davids CMD Maloney CSR Stewart JRR Rutherford NVD Velázquez VGD Gonzalez WKD Keating DLD Loebsack MPD Pocan LZR Zeldin LFD Fletcher JHR Hice ALD Lawson GMD Meng DPD Payne ASR Scott GCD Cisneros BMD McCollum RKD Kind TSD Sewell LSR Smucker ASD Spanberger GGR Grothman JGR González-Colón JKD Kennedy JND Neguse BRD Rush MAR Amodei JBD Beatty LMD McBath DSD Scott GTR Thompson DTD Trone JCR Comer PGR Gosar RLR Latta HSD Stevens JCD Courtney RGD Gallego GMR Murphy GSD Stanton MGR Green PMR McHenry CPD Pappas XTD Torres Small MWR Waltz RAR Allen DDD DeGette CHD Houlahan DLR LaHood MSD Sherrill NBD Barragán LBD Blunt Rochester BLR Long TCR Cole ECD Cleaver MDD Dean AHD Hastings JHD Harder TMD Malinowski JND Nadler ASD Sires DSD Shalala JGD Garamendi MGR Guest DMR McKinley PTD Tonko CAD Allred DED Evans AGD Green JHD Himes JLD Larson SMD Murphy WSR Steube

1 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.

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.

What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Apr 10, 2019

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) the treatment is expected to be ineffective, (2) the treatment will cause or is likely to cause an adverse reaction to the individual, (3) the treatment is expected to decrease the individual's ability either to perform daily activities or occupational responsibilities or adhere to the treatment plan, (4) the individual is stable based on the prescription drugs already selected, or (5) there are other medical reasons that warrant withholding the treatment.

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. Requests must be granted no later than three days after receipt of the request. In certain cases where the life, health, and ability of the individual are jeopardized by the protocol, the request shall be granted no later than 24 hours after receipt of the request.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov

About this bill and sources

Official title: Safe Step Act

Latest action (Apr 10, 2019): Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Policy area: Health · Origin: House · Introduced: Apr 10, 2019

Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)

No recorded floor vote found.