PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S5924-5925)
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Oct 21, 2019
Medicare Prescription Drug Savings and Choice Act of 2019
This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to establish at least one prescription drug plan that is operated by Medicare.
Among other things, the plan must (1) serve the entire United States; and (2) be the default plan for enrollees under the Medicare prescription drug benefit, unless the enrollee chooses another plan.
Additionally, the CMS must negotiate prices for prescription drugs that are covered under the plan and, if appropriate, encourage the use of more affordable therapeutic equivalents. (Currently, the CMS is prohibited from negotiating the prices of covered drugs under the Medicare prescription drug benefit.) The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality must assess the clinical benefits of drugs and make recommendations to the CMS regarding price negotiations, based on specified information (e.g., comparable international prices).
People & committees
Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] · D–IL
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S5924-5925)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Jan 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.2650 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.2650 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.2650 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.2650 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.