Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act of 2023

This bill amends the Medicare Part D program to require prescription drug plan sponsors that use a formulary to include certain lower-cost generic drugs and biosimilar biological products in a preferred position on the formulary, starting with plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2024.

Sec. 2, Requirements for PDP sponsors of prescription drug plans under Part D that use formularies: The bill adds a new subparagraph to the Social Security Act requiring that, for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2024, the formulary must include in a preferred position each covered generic drug whose wholesale acquisition cost is less than that of its reference drug, and at least two covered biosimilar biological products whose wholesale acquisition cost is less than that of their reference biological product. The bill also prohibits plan sponsors from imposing limits on access to these required drugs, such as prior authorization or step therapy, that are more restrictive than those applied to the reference drug or biological product, or that otherwise limit availability to enrollees relative to the reference product. Definitions are provided for terms including covered biosimilar biological product, covered generic drug, preferred position, reference biological product, reference drug, and wholesale acquisition cost.