The Senate Finance Committee introduced legislation designed to prevent and reduce generic drug shortages in wake of the U.S. seeing the highest number of domestic drug shortages since 2001, The Hill reported May 3.
The legislation proposed the formation of a Medicare Drug Shortage Mitigation Program tasked with improving contracting and purchasing in the pharmaceutical supply chain by 2027, according to The Hill.
Other provisions would require Medicare suppliers to create stricter standards to bolster the reliability and transparency of generic drug purchasing in order to receive Medicare payment incentives, the publication said.
Another provision would require contracts for a minimum of three years with manufacturers, purchase volume commitments and transparency about manufacturer quality issues, The Hill reported.