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H.R. 2163 · 117th Congress

Safe Step Act

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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 117th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.

RRD RuizSponsor
197 cosponsors · 135 D, 62 R
LMD McBath MMR Miller-Meeks BWR Wenstrup RAR Allen SBD Bonamici LBD Blunt Rochester DDD DeGette SDD DelBene BFR Fitzpatrick JJR Joyce KMD Manning SPR Palazzo TSD Suozzi JWR Walorski KBR Brady ECD Case JCD Crow SDD Davids MGR Green MGR Guest JHR Hill DKD Kilmer AKD Kuster RKD Krishnamoorthi ALD Levin BMD McCollum GMD Moore CPD Pingree DRD Ross JRR Rutherford MSD Scanlon HSD Stevens RDR Davis MAR Amodei PAD Aguilar JBD Brownley DBR Bacon CBD Bourdeaux TCR Cole SCD Cohen LCR Cheney GGR Grothman JGD Gottheimer AGR Gonzalez HJD Johnson DJR Johnson AKR Kinzinger SLD Lynch CLD Lamb NMR Mace GND Napolitano DPD Price GPR Pence KPD Porter BRD Rush MSD Strickland KSD Schrier PTD Tonko DTD Trone JYD Yarmuth JAD Auchincloss ABD Bera ECD Cleaver MDD Doyle NDR Dunn LFD Fletcher RGD Grijalva JKR Katko TKR Kelly TLD Lieu ALD Lawson CMD Maloney JMD McGovern NMR Malliotakis DMR McKinley JND Neguse MPD Pocan SPD Peters TRD Ryan LSR Smucker GTR Thompson DYR Young LFD Frankel GGR Graves JHR Herrera Beutler RJR Jackson AKD Kim TMD Malinowski END Norton BPR Posey JRD Raskin MTR Turner SWD Wild JCD Castro CHD Houlahan AMD McEachin JMD Morelle MSR Salazar ESD Swalwell ASD Spanberger WSR Steube EPD Perlmutter SWR Womack MBR Burgess LBR Bucshon TCD Cárdenas GMR Murphy DSD Soto CAD Allred AED Eshoo JFR Fortenberry FKR Keller GMD Meng CPD Pappas JCD Courtney MDD Dean JGR González-Colón KKD Kahele TMR Mann NWD Williams DWD Wasserman Schultz AAD Adams GBR Bilirakis JBR Banks KCD Castor DCD Cicilline MCR Cawthorn JCD Correa SCD Carbajal DED Evans AED Espaillat JGD Garamendi RGD Gallego HJD Jeffries DJR Joyce MJD Jones RKD Kelly JLR LaTurner JLD Larson JLD Langevin ALD Lowenthal ELD Luria MQD Quigley CRD Ruppersberger BSD Sherman JSD Schakowsky DSD Scott ASR Smith MTD Takano LTD Trahan JVR Van Drew BVR Van Duyne EBD Blumenauer JBD Bowman DBD Beyer NBD Barragán BCR Carter SJD Jackson Lee DLR LaMalfa DMD Matsui ASD Schiff TSD Sewell BSD Schneider TBR Balderson JCD Costa BCR Cline DLR LaHood SMD Maloney DPD Phillips LSD Sánchez NVD Velázquez ABD Brown SCR Chabot KCD Clark DDD Davis ZLD Lofgren BLD Lawrence TOD O’Halleran JPD Panetta MSD Sherrill ESD Slotkin RWR Wittman TCD Carter JHD Himes SHD Horsford SJD Jacobs BLR Long JMD McNerney BPD Pascrell DPD Payne PWD Welch ACD Carson VDD Demings SMD Moulton FMD Mrvan GSD Stanton BLD Lee

3 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 · Mar 23, 2021

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.

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 nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov

About this bill and sources

Official title: Safe Step Act

Latest action (Mar 23, 2021): Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Policy area: Health · Origin: House · Introduced: Mar 23, 2021

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

No recorded floor vote found.