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.
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.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 21, 2025
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.
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.
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.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Bill text & related measures
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 19, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Read the proposal in plain language
AI-generated · Source-checked by AI · Nov 1, 2026
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-21 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
What it would do
H.R. 1492 proposes changing a seven-year period to eleven years under the Drug Price Negotiation Program. The stated aim is to equalize negotiation timing between two types of drug candidates: small-molecule drugs and biologics. The change would apply as though it had been included in the earlier law identified in the bill.
Check the sources
Equalizing the negotiation period between small-molecule and biologic candidates under the Drug Price Negotiation Program
The proposed effective-date rule ties the amendment to the enactment of Public Law 117–169, treating the change as part of that law when originally enacted.
Check the source
The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect as if included in the enactment of Public Law 117–169.
The supplied September 19, 2026 source snapshot records introduction in the House and referral to the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees on February 21, 2025, with each committee considering provisions within its jurisdiction.
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.
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-21. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Other targeted benefits
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential exception was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
What this analysis cannot establish
The amended statutory provision is not reproduced. The bundle therefore does not establish when the seven-year or eleven-year period begins, how it relates to actual negotiation or negotiated prices, or which drugs qualify under the surrounding rules.
The bundle does not supply the enactment date or relevant implementation provisions of Public Law 117–169, so it does not establish the calendar date or practical administration of the proposed effective-date rule.
This analysis concerns the supplied introduced version. The dated actions snapshot supplies no later legislative actions; that absence does not establish that the bill never advanced or became law.
No earmark disclosures, committee reports, or conference materials are supplied, limiting assessment of formal earmark status beyond the bill text.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Sep 19, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI