---
type: "Bill"
title: "Medication Cost Transparency Act."
description: "Medication Cost Transparency Act."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nc"
legislature: "North Carolina General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 257"
citation: "North Carolina SB 257 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHAPTERED", "COMMERCE", "CONSUMER PROTECTION", "DEFINITIONS", "HEALTH", "HEALTH SERVICES", "INSURANCE", "INSURANCE", "OCCUPATIONS", "PATIENT RIGHTS", "PHARMACEUTICALS", "PHARMACISTS & PHARMACIES", "PRESENTED", "PUBLIC", "RATIFIED"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Britt", "Perry"]
version_count: 10
action_count: 53
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2021-03-11"
last_action: "2021-09-20"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ddc9a363-58fe-436d-9df3-69085d29ed6f"
source_url: "https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2021/S257"
source_hash: "a00b1c2beb1d2087215717f01c21935a22602c8e34f4923c9ebfbef9b76fca3a"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nc"]
---

# North Carolina SB 257 (2021) — Medication Cost Transparency Act.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Filed** (filed) — [source](https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S257v0.pdf)
2. **A1: ABC-48-V-2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewBillDocument/2021/51951/0/S257-ABC-48-V-2)
3. **A1: ABC-61-V-1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewBillDocument/2021/52762/0/S257-ABC-61-V-1)
4. **Edition 1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S257v1.pdf)
5. **Edition 2** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S257v2.pdf)
6. **Edition 3** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S257v3.pdf)
7. **Edition 4** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S257v4.pdf)
8. **Edition 5** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S257v5.pdf)
9. **Ratified** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S257v6.pdf)
10. **SL 2021-161** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S257v7.pdf)

## Votes

- Conference Rpt Motion 8 To Adopt — **41–0** (pass) · upper
- C RPT Adoption — **102–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Britt — primary (person)
- Perry — primary (person)
- Alexander — cosponsor (person)
- Barnes — cosponsor (person)
- Corbin — cosponsor (person)
- Edwards — cosponsor (person)
- Garrett — cosponsor (person)
- Jarvis — cosponsor (person)
- Johnson — cosponsor (person)
- Lazzara — cosponsor (person)
- Lowe — cosponsor (person)
- McInnis — cosponsor (person)
- Mohammed — cosponsor (person)
- Sawyer — cosponsor (person)
- Steinburg — cosponsor (person)
- deViere — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-09-20** Ch. SL 2021-161 `became-law`
- **2021-09-20** Signed by Gov. 9/20/2021 `executive-signature`
- **2021-09-10** Pres. To Gov. 9/10/2021 `executive-receipt`
- **2021-09-09** Ratified
- **2021-09-08** Ordered Enrolled
- **2021-09-08** Conf Report Adopted
- **2021-09-08** Added to Calendar
- **2021-09-08** Conf Com Reported
- **2021-09-08** Conf Report Adopted
- **2021-09-08** Placed on Today's Calendar
- **2021-09-08** Conf Com Reported
- **2021-08-19** Conf Com Appointed
- **2021-08-19** Conf Com Appointed
- **2021-08-19** Failed Concur In H Com Sub
- **2021-08-19** Placed on Today's Calendar
- **2021-08-19** Regular Message Received For Concurrence in H Com Sub
- **2021-08-19** Regular Message Sent To Senate
- **2021-08-18** Ordered Engrossed
- **2021-08-18** Passed 3rd Reading `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-08-18** Passed 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2021-08-18** Amend Adopted A1 `amendment-passage`
- **2021-08-18** Added to Calendar
- **2021-08-18** Cal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- **2021-08-18** Serial Referral To Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House Stricken
- **2021-08-18** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-07-26** Serial Referral To Finance Stricken
- **2021-06-30** Re-ref Com On Health `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-30** Reptd Fav `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-06-22** Re-ref to the Com on Insurance, if favorable, Health, if favorable, Finance, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-22** Withdrawn From Com
- **2021-06-03** Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House `referral-committee`
- **2021-06-03** Passed 1st Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-06-03** Regular Message Received From Senate
- **2021-06-02** Regular Message Sent To House
- **2021-06-01** Engrossed
- **2021-06-01** Passed 3rd Reading `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-06-01** Passed 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2021-06-01** Amend Adopted A1 `amendment-passage`
- **2021-05-28** Reptd Fav `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-25** Re-ref Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-25** Reptd Fav `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-05-24** Re-ref to Finance. If fav, re-ref to Rules and Operations of the Senate `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-24** Withdrawn From Com
- **2021-05-20** Re-ref Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-20** Com Substitute Adopted
- **2021-05-20** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-04-28** Re-ref Com On Commerce and Insurance `referral-committee`
- **2021-04-28** Reptd Fav `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2021-03-25** Re-ref to Health Care. If fav, re-ref to Commerce and Insurance. If fav, re-ref to Rules and Operations of the Senate `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-25** Withdrawn From Com
- **2021-03-15** Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-15** Passed 1st Reading `reading-1`
- **2021-03-11** Filed `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ddc9a363-58fe-436d-9df3-69085d29ed6f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official North Carolina legislature records).