End Price Gouging for Medications Act
Sponsored By: Senator Jeff Merkley
Introduced
Summary
Caps prescription prices using international reference prices. This bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to set an annual reference price for every prescription drug and limit retail list prices in many federal health programs to that reference price.
Show full summary
- Families and beneficiaries in federal programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, TRICARE, Department of Veterans Affairs care, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, and Indian Health programs would see retail list prices for covered inpatient and outpatient drugs capped at the reference price.
- Uninsured people and those with employer group plans would also be entitled to the reference price. For group plans the requirement is met when insurer payments plus patient cost sharing do not exceed the reference price.
- Drug manufacturers would face civil penalties for noncompliance equal to five times the annual difference per drug between what they received and what they would have received at the reference price. Penalties collected would be transferred to the National Institutes of Health for drug research and development.
- HHS would calculate each year’s reference price by using the lowest retail list price among 12 reference countries when at least three have pricing data. Those countries include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. If three-country data are not available HHS would set a price based on added therapeutic effect, value, patient access, research and development costs, and other appropriate factors.
Your PRIA Score
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Large penalties on drug manufacturers
If enacted, drug manufacturers that sell covered drugs above the reference price would face civil penalties. The penalty for each drug and year would equal five times the difference between what the maker actually received and what it would have received if it had complied. Each year Treasury would transfer collected penalties to the National Institutes of Health. The NIH would have to use the transferred money for drug research and development.
Annual drug price caps for patients
If enacted, HHS would set a yearly reference price for each prescription drug. For people in Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, VA, TRICARE, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, and Indian Health programs, a drug's retail list price could not be higher than that reference price. Each year HHS would use the lowest retail list price from the designated 12 reference countries if at least three countries report prices. If fewer than three countries report usable prices or dosage equivalents, HHS would set a price based on benefit, patient access, and research and development. Drug manufacturers would have to offer the drug at the reference price to everyone; for people with group coverage the plan payment plus your cost-sharing must not exceed that price.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Jeff Merkley
OR • D
Cosponsors
Peter Welch
VT • D
Sponsored 5/14/2025
Bernie Sanders
VT • I
Sponsored 5/14/2025
Richard Durbin
IL • D
Sponsored 5/14/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.govTake It Personal
Get Your Personalized Policy View
Start a Free Government Policy Watch to see how policy affects your household, then upgrade to PRIA Full Coverage for year-round monitoring.
Already have an account? Sign in