H.R. 1492 explained · 119th Congress · Pending in Congress
To amend title XI of the Social Security Act to equalize the negotiation period between small-molecule and biologic candidates under the Drug Price Negotiation Program.
Cosponsors: 68 (4 D, 64 R) · per Congress.gov, 2026-10-12
Introduced: 2025-02-21
Latest action (2025-02-21): Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
What H.R. 1492 does, in plain terms
This bill lengthens the amount of time for which drug products must have market approval in order for the products to qualify for negotiation under the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs under Medicare beginning in 2026. Among other requirements, drugs must have had market approval for at least 7 years (for drug products) or 11 years (for biologics) to qualify for negotiation. The bill modifies these provisions so as to require drug products to also have had at least 11 years of market approval in order to qualify for negotiation. The bill's changes apply retroactively.
Official summary by the Congressional Research Service, via Congress.gov.
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