Patient Access Act of 2024

This bill amends the Social Security Act to allow drug manufacturers to pay for or reimburse travel, lodging, meals, and incidental expenses for patients and up to two caregivers when the patient is being administered a prescribed drug, without facing antikickback penalties, under specific conditions. It also requires a government study on these arrangements.

Sec. 2, Excluding from antikickback sanctions certain travel and lodging arrangements: This section adds a new exception to the federal antikickback law for arrangements starting on or after January 1, 2025, where a drug manufacturer pays for transportation, lodging, meals, or other incidental expenses related to drug administration travel. The arrangement must meet several conditions: it covers the patient and up to two caregivers; the manufacturer cannot pay if it knows the patient gets these costs free from the facility; the manufacturer cannot advertise the arrangement and must not disclose it until after the drug is prescribed; travel must be practical and convenient, covering direct costs between the patient's residence and the nearest appropriate facility; lodging must be reasonable, near the facility, and only during the treatment period; meal and incidental payments cannot exceed the federal per diem rate; the patient must have income at or below the regional median for their family size and live more than 1 hour or 50 miles from the nearest facility; the offer must be made regardless of the facility or the patient's insurance; the patient must agree not to seek federal program reimbursement for these costs; and the manufacturer must certify it does not bill or shift costs to federal health programs. The section also requires the Comptroller General to report to Congress within three years on these arrangements, analyzing their impact on access to therapies, including rare disease gene therapies, biosimilars, and generics, and including details on costs, distances, patient income, length of stay, number of patients, prescription fill rates, and oversight effectiveness.