Welch Joins Bipartisan, Bicameral ‘Safe Step Act’ to Bicameral to Help Patients Access Lifesaving Medications

Mar 31, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C.–U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.),a member of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Health Care, cosponsored theSafe Step Act, bipartisan, bicameral legislation led byU.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)andMaggie Hassan (D-N.H.)to ensure patients can safely and efficiently access the best treatment available by improving step therapy protocols. U.S. Representatives Lucy McBath (D-GA-06) and Rick Allen (R-GA-12) introduced companion legislation in the House.
“Having access to the right medication is essential to ensuring patients stay healthy and get the care they need. But too often, step therapy puts insurance company rules ahead of patients’ health, delaying care and forcing people to jump through hoops in order to get vital medication,”said Senator Welch. “We need to remove these barriers to ensure that patients in Vermont, Alaska, and across the country can access medications that work for them without delay.”
Under current guidelines, patients are subject to health plan drug formularies, which determine which medications patients can access and are created by health insurance companies. The formularies can force patients to use specific medications and “fail-first” before moving onto the next, without exceptions for individuals with unique health circumstances.
TheSafe Step Actwould allow patients to access medications that work for them, instead of being forced to follow  protocols that keep them from appropriate treatment by requiring  group health plans to offer a clear, timely exceptions process when step therapy is not in a patient’s best interest.
Under the legislation, exceptions must be granted when:
Joining Senators Welch, Murkowski, and Hassan in cosponsoring this bill in the Senate are Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Kevin Cramer (R-S.D.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.),  Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.),  Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).
In addition to Reps. McBath and Allen, the bill is cosponsored by 99 additional members of the House of Representatives. Read the full listhere.
Read and downloadthe full text of the bill.
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