Congress·In Committee·H.R. 3955

RAPID Reserve Act

House Bill Would Pay Drugmakers to Stockpile 6-Month Supply of Critical Medicines

Jun 12, 2025·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

Part of: Congress Proposes $500M for National Drug Reserves to Combat Shortages

This bill is one vehicle in a longer effort. See the full story across every version.View effort →

StalledNext up: A house committeeNo action in 13 months

The RAPID Reserve Act is currently sitting in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Nothing has happened with this bill since June 2025, and it is considered stalled. The committee must take action for the bill to move forward, but most bills like this never receive a vote.

Legislative Progress

House

No action since June 2025

Senate

President

Law

How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 6802 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 6802 (118th) →

Key Points

HHS would pay selected drugmakers and suppliers to keep a rolling reserve of certain “critical” medicines and their key ingredients.
Companies in the program would generally keep about a 6-month backup supply, and replace it regularly with newly made product so it doesn’t get too old.
In a shortage or emergency, HHS could direct companies to ramp up production and could direct where some ingredient supplies go to help other manufacturers.
The bill aims to reduce the risk of drug shortages caused by problems like too few factories, quality issues, or too much production in one region.
Congress would allow up to $500 million for 2026 to run the program; HHS would publish the drug list and report to Congress every 2 years.

HealthcarePrescription Drugs

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

How this policy affects specific groups of people

Positive Impacts(1)

Chronic Illness

Helps

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Jun 12, 2025House

Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Jun 12, 2025

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Related News

4 articles

Becker's Hospital Review·Jun 17, 2025

Senate bill aims to rebuild drug manufacturing infrastructure: 3 notes

Bipartisan senators reintroduced the RAPID Reserve Act to address generic drug shortages by expanding domestic stockpiles and manufacturing capacity. The bill requires HHS to award contracts to U.S. or allied manufacturers to maintain reserves of essential medications and ingredients.

Center

Fierce Pharma·Jun 17, 2025

Senators bring back bill to bolster US pharma supply chain by awarding contracts to domestic producers

The Rolling Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient and Drug (RAPID) Reserve Act would require HHS to issue contracts to U.S.-based or OECD-based drugmakers to maintain reserves of critical medications and key ingredients, aiming to reduce overreliance on China and improve preparedness.

Center

RealClearDefense·Jan 29

Pharmaceutical Blackout: The Hidden Threat to U.S. Security

Authors argue that the RAPID Reserve Act is a 'legislative lifeline' designed to prevent 'pharmacological blackouts' by bringing critical medicine manufacturing back to U.S. shores and building strategic reserves of generic drugs currently dependent on Chinese and Indian supply chains.

Center Right

No votes or related bills recorded for this bill yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

RAPID Reserve Act

Bill NumberHR 3955

Congress119th Congress

ChamberHouse of Representatives

Latest ActionReferred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(1)

R: 1

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.