,i #aacth ,,congress #ast ,session ,h4 ,r4 #aahh ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,march #ad1 #bjac ,mr4 ,marino 7for himself and ,ms4 ,chu7 introduced the following bill2 which was referred to the ,committee on the ,judiciary ,a ,,bill ,to ensure and foster continued safety and quality of care and a competitive marketplace by exempting independent pharmacies from the antitrust laws in their negotiations with health plans and health insurance insurers4 #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited as the ,preserving ,our ,hometown ,independent ,pharmacies ,act of #bjac4 #b4 ,application of the antitrust laws to independent pharmacies negotiating with health plans 7a7 ,in general ,any independent pharmacies who are engaged in negotiations with a health plan regarding the terms of any contract under which the pharmacies provide health care items or services for which benefits are provided under such plan shall1 only in connection with such negotiations1 be treated under the antitrust laws as an employee engaged in concerted activities and shall not be regarded as having the status of an employer1 independent contractor1 managerial employee1 or supervisor4 7b7 ,protection for good faith actions ,actions taken in good faith reliance on subsection 7a7 shall not be the subject under the antitrust laws of criminal sanctions nor of any civil damages1 fees1 or penalties beyond actual damages incurred4 7c7 ,no change in ,national ,labor ,relations ,act ,nothing in this section shall be construed as changing or amending any provision of the ,national ,labor ,relations ,act1 or as affecting the status of any group of persons under that ,act4 7d7 ,effective date ,the exemption provided in subsection 7a7 shall apply to conduct occurring beginning on the date of the enactment of this ,act4 7e7 ,limitations on exemption ,nothing in this section shall exempt from the application of the antitrust laws any agreement or otherwise unlawful conspiracy that-- 7#a7 would have the effect of boycotting any independent pharmacy or group of independent pharmacies1 or would exclude1 limit the participation or reimbursement of1 or otherwise limit the scope of services to be provided by1 any independent pharmacy or group of independent pharmacies with respect to the performance of services that are within the scope of practice as defined or permitted by relevant law or regulation2 7#b7 allocates a market among competitors2 7#c7 unlawfully ties the sale or purchase of one product or service to the sale or purchase of another product or service2 or 7#d7 monopolizes or attempts to monopolize a market4 7f7 ,limitation based on market share of group ,this section shall not apply with respect to the negotiations of any group of independent pharmacies with a health plan regarding the terms of any contract under which such pharmacies provide health care items or services for which benefits are provided under such plan in a ,,pdp region 7as defined in subsection 7j77#d77 if the number of pharmacy licenses of such pharmacies within such group in such region exceeds #be percent of the total number of pharmacy licenses issued to all retail pharmacies 7including both independent and other pharmacies7 in such region4 7g7 ,no effect on title ,,vi of ,civil ,rights ,act of #aifd ,nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the application of title ,,vi of the ,civil ,rights ,act of #aifd4 7h7 ,no application to specified ,federal programs ,nothing in this section shall apply to negotiations between independent pharmacies and health plans pertaining to benefits provided under any of the following3 7#a7 ,the ,medicaid ,program under title ,,xix of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #acif et seq474 7#b7 ,the ,state ,children's ,health ,insurance ,program 7,,ship7 under title ,,xxi of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #acig;aa et seq474 7#c7 ,chapter #ee of title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code 7relating to medical and dental care for members of the uniformed services74 7#d7 ,chapter #ag of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code 7relating to ,veterans' medical care74 7#e7 ,chapter #hi of title #e1 ,united ,states ,code 7relating to the ,federal employees' health benefits program74 7#f7 ,the ,indian ,health ,care ,improvement ,act 7#be ,u4,s4,c4 #afja et seq474 7#g7 ,part ,c or ,d of title ,,xviii of the ,social ,security ,act4 7i7 ,definitions ,for purposes of this section3 7#a7 ,antitrust laws ,the term antitrust laws-- 7,a7 has the meaning given it in subsection 7a7 of the first section of the ,clayton ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #ab7;a771 except that such term includes section #e of the ,federal ,trade ,commission ,act 7#ae ,u4,s4,c4 #de7 to the extent such section #e applies to unfair methods of competition2 and 7,b7 includes any ,state law similar to the laws referred to in subparagraph 7,a74 7#b7 ,health plan and related terms 7,a7 ,in general ,the term health plan-- 7i7 means a group health plan or a health insurance issuer that is offering health insurance coverage2 7ii7 includes any entity that contracts with such a plan or issuer for the administering of services under the plan or coverage2 and 7iii7 does not include a ,medicare ,advantage plan offered under part ,c of title ,,xviii of the ,social ,security ,act or a prescription drug plan offered under part ,d of such title4 7,b7 ,health insurance coverage2 health insurance issuer ,the terms health insurance coverage and health insurance issuer have the meanings given such terms under paragraphs 7#a7 and 7#b71 respectively1 of section #gcc7;b7 of the ,employee ,retirement ,income ,security ,act of #aigd 7#bi ,u4,s4,c4 #aaia;b7b774 7,c7 ,group health plan ,the term group health plan has the meaning given that term in section #gcc7;a77#a7 of the ,employee ,retirement ,income ,security ,act of #aigd 7#bi ,u4,s4,c4 #aaia;b7a77#a774 7#c7 ,independent pharmacy ,the term independent pharmacy means a pharmacy that has a market share of-- 7,a7 less than #aj percent in any ,,pdp region2 and 7,b7 less than #a percent in the ,united ,states4 ,for purposes of the preceding sentence1 all pharmacies that are members of the same controlled group of corporations 7within the meaning of section #bfg7;f7 of the ,internal ,revenue ,code of #aihf7 and all pharmacies under common control 7within the meaning of section #eb7;b7 of such ,code but determined by treating an interest of more than #ej percent as a controlling interest7 shall be treated as #a pharmacy4 7#d7 ,,pdp region ,the term ,,pdp region has the meaning given such term in section #ahfj;,d-#aa7;a77#b7 of the ,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4 #aciew-#aaa7;a77#b774 7j7 #e-,year sunset ,the exemption provided in subsection 7a7 shall only apply to conduct occurring during the #e-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this ,act and shall continue to apply for #a year after the end of such period to contracts entered into before the end of such period4 7k7 ,general accountability office study and report ,the ,comptroller ,general of the ,united ,states shall conduct a study on the impact of enactment of this section during the #f-month period beginning with the #eth year of the #e-year period described in subsection 7j74 ,not later than the end of such #f-month period1 the ,comptroller ,general shall submit to ,congress a report on such study and shall include in the report such recommendations on the extension of this section 7and changes that should be made in making such extension7 as the ,comptroller ,general deems appropriate4 7l7 ,oversight ,nothing in this section shall preclude the ,federal ,trade ,commission or the ,department of ,justice from overseeing the conduct of independent pharmacies covered under this section4