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United States · Bill · S

S. 464 (117th)

Safe Step Act

referredUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

25 February 2021

Last action

25 February 2021 · Introduced

Status

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Sponsors

Lisa Murkowski, Maggie Hassan, Bill Cassidy, Jacky Rosen, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Kirsten Gillibrand, Kyrsten Sinema, Shelley Capito, Sen. Hirono, Mazie K. [D-HI], Thomas Tillis, Jeanne Shaheen, Kevin Cramer, Jeff Merkley, Richard Blumenthal, Roger Marshall, Angus King, Michael Bennet, Susan Collins, Tina Smith, Tim Scott, Sen. Tester, Jon [D-MT], Sen. Casey, Robert P., Jr. [D-PA], John Boozman, Jerry Moran, Cynthia Lummis, Roger Wicker, Catherine Cortez Masto, Sen. Warnock, Raphael G. [D-GA], Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [D-MI], Chris Van Hollen, Gary Peters, Rep. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE-At Large], Mark Kelly, Sen. Portman, Rob [R-OH], Timothy Kaine, Sen. Feinstein, Dianne [D-CA], Martin Heinrich

Subjects

Healthcare

Source updated

5 December 2025

Healthcare

Official sourceDownload fileView documentsShare

Summary

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.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

  1. 25 February 2021

    Introduced

    Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

    Source: IntroReferral

  2. 25 February 2021

    Introduced

    Introduced in Senate

    Source: IntroReferral

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

Documents

3 official files

Sponsors

Related records

Sources

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