In January 2007, the 110th United States House of Representatives approved , the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act,Prescription Drug Price Comparison by www.ePharmacies.com a bill to require federal officials to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices for the 23 million senior citizens who have signed up for Medicare's prescription drug coverage. The bill was never passed into law. It would have repealed a ban on letting the government negotiate with manufacturers for lower prices — a provision that was part of the GOP-sponsored 2003 measure called the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act, which created the prescription drug program.House OKs bill on cost of drugs, LA Times, 1/13/07. Medicare drug price negotiation was eventually authorized in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Legislative history CongressShort titleBill number(s)Date introducedSponsor(s)# of cosponsorsLatest status110th CongressMedicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007January 5, 2007John Dingell (D-MI)198Passed House (255-170)January 4, 2007Harry Reid (D-NV)17Cloture not invoked (55-42)111th CongressMedicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2010March 3, 2010Peter Welch (D-VT)81Died in committeeMay 25, 2010Russ Feingold (D-WI)0Died in committee112th CongressMedicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2011June 21, 2011Peter Welch (D-VT)29Died in committeeJanuary 25, 2011Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)8Died in committee113th CongressMedicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2013March 12, 2013Peter Welch (D-VT)40Died in committeeJanuary 23, 2013Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)8Died in committee114th CongressMedicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2015July 14, 2015Peter Welch (D-VT)33Died in committeeJanuary 6, 2015Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)9Died in committee115th CongressMedicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2017January 4, 2017Peter Welch (D-VT)45Died in committeeJanuary 5, 2017Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)13Died in committee116th CongressMedicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2019January 8, 2019Peter Welch (D-VT)37Died in committee117th CongressMedicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2021March 18, 2021Peter Welch (D-VT)12Died in committee
No bill carrying the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act title was introduced in the 118th or 119th Congresses, following enactment of Medicare drug price negotiation through other legislation in 2022.
Enactment via the Inflation Reduction Act None of the bills above became law. The policy was instead enacted in 2022 through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA; ), which directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate prices with manufacturers for selected high-spending drugs covered under Medicare Part D and, beginning in 2028, Medicare Part B.
References