Safe Step Act

The Safe Step Act would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require group health plans and health insurers to establish a clear, prompt, and transparent exceptions process for medication step therapy protocols, allowing patients or their prescribers to request coverage for a non-preferred drug when specific clinical criteria are met. The bill sets strict timelines for responses—72 hours for standard requests and 24 hours for urgent cases—and mandates that approved exceptions provide at least one year of continued coverage. It also requires annual reporting to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Congress on exception requests, approvals, denials, and…

No official summary is available here. This one was written by AI from the bill’s text.