Safe Step Act
Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.
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.
Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
- Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 2163: Safe Step Act. 117th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/117-HR-2163/
"H.R. 2163: Safe Step Act." 117th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/117-HR-2163/.
H.R. 2163, 117th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/117-HR-2163/.
[H.R. 2163: Safe Step Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/117-HR-2163/)