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S. 1974: Medicare Preservation and Drug Price Fairness Act

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S. 1974: Medicare Preservation and Drug Price Fairness Act

108th Congress · introduced 2003-11-25 · Health · Latest: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4780-4781)

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2003-11-25 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Daschle, Thomas A. [D-SD] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4780-4781) Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Medicare Preservation and Drug Price Fairness Act

Plain summary

Medicare Preservation and Drug Price Fairness Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, as amended by the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, to repeal the prohibition against: (1) interference by the Secretary of Health and Human Services with the negotiations between drug manufacturers and pharmacies and prescription drug plan sponsors; and (2) any requirement by the Secretary of a formulary or institution of a price structure for the reimbursement of covered prescription drugs. Repeals the Comparative Cost Adjustment Program. Amends the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary to promulgate regulations allowing qualifying individuals who are neither pharmacists nor wholesalers (qualifying individuals) to import covered products (in addition to pharmacists and wholesalers, whom current law authorizes to import such products). Repeals the requirement that regulations require that a product not coming directly from the first foreign recipient of the product from the manufacturer be approved for marketing in the United States. Repeals requirements that the importer provide the Secretary with: (1) documentation from the foreign seller specifying the original source of the product and the amount of each lot of the product originally received; and (2) any other information that the Secretary determines is necessary to ensure the protection of the public health. Revises testing requirements to provide that specified tests, including ones involving authenticity and degradation of products, shall not be required unless the importer is a wholesaler. (Currently either the importer or the manufacturer may conduct such tests). Exempts from importer-wholesaler testing a prescription drug subject to requirements for counterfeit-resistant packaging. Makes permanent the requirements of Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act for the importation of covered products. Classifies prescription drugs as misbranded if they do not incorporate specified counterfeit-resistant technologies in their packaging. Amends the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 to repeal its requirements for the importation of prescription drugs from Canada into the United States (effectively replacing them with the requirements of this Act.) Removes Medicare Advantage (MA) prescription drug plans from the meaning of qualifying prescription drug plan. Repeals authorization for the MA Regional Plan Stabilization Fund and Health Savings Accounts.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Medicare Preservation and Drug Price Fairness Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

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Arguments against (opponents)

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Daschle, Thomas A. [D-SD] · 1 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Charles E. Schumer (D-NY)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)
Authorization
A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Rulemaking
The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.
Securities
Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong108-s1974 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong108 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong108