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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.
Summary
This bill amends the Drug Price Negotiation Program under the Social Security Act to modify the time period required to elapse after a drug is approved before it becomes eligible for Medicare price negotiation. For drugs with initial price applicability in 2026 and 2027, the bill maintains the current requirement of at least seven years after approval. Starting with drugs with initial price applicability in 2028 and beyond, the bill extends the required period to at least eleven years after approval. The effect is to delay the inclusion of certain drugs, particularly biologics, in the Medicare drug price negotiation program.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Tillis, Thomas [R-NC] (R-NC)
7 cosponsors
- Sen. Banks, Jim [R-IN] (R-IN)
- Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] (R-TN)
- Sen. Budd, Ted [R-NC] (R-NC)
- Sen. Curtis, John R. [R-UT] (R-UT)
- Sen. Daines, Steve [R-MT] (R-MT)
- Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK)
- Sen. Marshall, Roger [R-KS] (R-KS)
Actions (2)
- Mar 4, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. · senate
- Mar 4, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 4, 2025
Mr. Tillis (for himself, Mr. Budd, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Daines, and Mr. Lankford) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
A BILL
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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Ensuring Pathways to Innovative Cures Act of 2025” or the “EPIC Act of 2025”.
SEC. 2. EQUALIZING THE NEGOTIATION PERIOD BETWEEN SMALL-MOLECULE AND BIOLOGIC CANDIDATES UNDER THE DRUG PRICE NEGOTIATION PROGRAM.
Section 1192(e)(1)(A)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320f-1(e)(1)(A)(ii)) is amended—
(1) by striking “year, at least 7” and inserting “year—
“(I) for initial price applicability years 2026 and 2027, at least 7”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
“(II) for initial price applicability year 2028 and each subsequent initial price applicability year, at least 11 years will have elapsed since the date of such approval; and”. <all>
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