S. 1895 · 116th Congress
Lower Health Care Costs Act
Key: what the circles and colors mean
Each circle is a bill. The ring fills as it moves through Congress:
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.
R
AlexanderSponsor2 cosponsors · 1 D, 1 R
1 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill makes a series of changes relating to health care coverage, costs, and services.
What it does: CRS summary · Reported to Senate · Jul 8, 2019
Lower Health Care Costs Act
This bill makes a series of changes relating to health care coverage, costs, and services.
Among other things, the bill
- applies in-network cost-sharing requirements to certain emergency and related nonemergency services that are provided out-of-network, and prohibits health care facilities and practitioners from billing above the applicable in-network cost-sharing rate for such services;
- revises certain requirements in order to expedite the approval of generics and biosimilars, including requirements relating to citizen petitions, application effective dates, and labeling;
- requires health care facilities and practitioners to give patients a list of provided services upon discharge and to bill for such services within 45 days;
- limits prices that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) may charge health insurers or enrollees for prescription drugs, based on prices paid by PBMs to pharmacies;
- establishes grant programs to support vaccinations and data modernization; and
- requires health insurers to make certain information, including estimated out-of-pocket costs, accessible to enrollees through specified technology (e.g., mobile applications).
The bill also makes several additional changes relating to public health, including raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Lower Health Care Costs Act
Latest action (Jul 8, 2019): Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 133.
Policy area: Health · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Jun 19, 2019
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.