Title 42 › Chapter 7— SOCIAL SECURITY › Subchapter XI— GENERAL PROVISIONS, PEER REVIEW, AND ADMINISTRATIVE SIMPLIFICATION › Part E— Price Negotiation Program To Lower Prices for Certain High-Priced Single Source Drugs › § 1320f–1
The Secretary must pick and publish lists of “selected drugs” each year by a set date. For 2026 the list must include 10 drugs, for 2027 it must include 15, for 2028 it must include 15, and for 2029 and later it must include 20. For 2026 and 2027 those picks come only from certain top-spending outpatient drugs (Part D) and for 2028 and later the picks can come from top-spending drugs under Part D or Part B. The Secretary ranks eligible drugs by total Medicare spending using the most recent 12 months of data available before the publication date (with that data ending no later than October 31 of the prior year), then chooses the highest-ranked drugs. Biological products that have an approved delay under the rules are removed from the ranking before picks are made. A drug on the list is called a “selected drug” for that year and continues to be a selected drug until a generic or biosimilar is approved and marketed so that at least one full year begins at least 9 months after that approval and marketing. A “negotiation-eligible drug” is a qualifying single-source drug that is among the top 50 by spending (Part D and, for some years, Part B). A qualifying single-source drug is generally a brand drug approved at least 7 years ago or a biologic licensed at least 11 years ago and not already the reference or listed product for an approved generic or biosimilar. The law excludes single-indication orphan drugs, blood- or plasma-derived products, and drugs below spending thresholds (for 2026 under $200,000,000 in spending from June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023; the threshold rises in later years by the CPI). If a biologic is likely to have a biosimilar marketed soon, the Secretary can delay listing it for up to 2 years if the biosimilar’s maker asks and shows clear progress; if the delay ends without a marketed biosimilar, the biologic’s maker must pay a rebate. Rebate formulas and exact percent rates (for example, 75% for Part D differences, 80% for Part B differences, and a special 65% base for long-monopoly drugs) are used and go into the Medicare trust funds.
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The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
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42 U.S.C. § 1320f–1
Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60