RI’s Sens. join colleagues in re-introducing SMART Prices Act to boost Medicare prescription drug price negotiation power
WASHINGTON, DC – In an effort to help more seniors afford their lifesaving prescription medications, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced legislation today with Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and a group of Senators to boost Medicare negotiations of drug prices to lower the cost of prescription drugs for consumers.
The Strengthening Medicare and Reducing Taxpayer (SMART) Prices Act would give the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) enhanced authority to negotiate for Medicare Part D. The legislation would give the Trump Administration the power to set prices for more prescription drugs. It would also lower the ceiling for prices for the drugs subject to negotiation.
The legislation builds on a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that allowed Medicare to negotiate prescription drugs for the first time. The SMART Prices Act would also lower Medicare Part B drug prices through negotiation two years earlier than they would under the current law and would increase the overall number of drugs that HHS can negotiate starting in 2026.
According to preliminary estimates from a model by West Health and Verdant Research, if the SMART Prices Act was enacted in 2026, it would save 33 percent more by 2030 than current law. It would also allow Medicare to begin negotiations earlier and bring down the price of more expensive drugs.
“One of the biggest expenses for seniors on fixed incomes is prescription drug costs. I helped include provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act to lower the prices seniors pay at the pharmacy counter. The SMART Prices Act builds on this progress by strengthening Medicare’s ability to use bulk purchasing power to negotiate lower prices,” said Senator Reed.
“As Republicans move to cut health care, Democrats are working to lower health care and prescription drug costs for our nation’s seniors,” said Senator Whitehouse. “Our SMART Prices Act will build on progress made in our Inflation Reduction Act and strengthen Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices, providing welcome relief to seniors living on fixed incomes.”
“No one should have to choose between putting food on the table and affording their medications. This bill builds on our progress to lower prescription drug costs by accelerating Medicare’s ability to negotiate prices for more drugs on behalf of the American people,” said Senator Klobuchar. “We will make prescriptions more affordable and save taxpayers more money by continuing to take on Big Pharma’s price gouging.”
In addition to Klobuchar, Reed, and Whitehouse, the SMART Prices Act is cosponsored by Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus King (I-ME), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
The bill is also endorsed by Center for American Progress, FamiliesUSA, Patients For Affordable Drugs NOW, Protect Our Care, and Public Citizen.
“The SMART Prices Act builds on the progress of the Inflation Reduction Act to help bring down today’s exorbitant prescription drug prices,” said Andrea Ducas, Vice President of Health Policy at the Center for American Progress. “The bill is an important step forward in holding pharmaceutical companies accountable and ensuring seniors are paying fair and affordable prices for life-saving medications.”
“One in three Americans can’t afford their prescription drugs. We hear from patients every day who are rationing medication or skipping doses because of high drug costs. The SMART Prices Act is a welcome step that builds on the historic drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act by increasing the number of drugs subject to Medicare negotiation – a proposal that has broad support from Americans on both sides of the aisle,” said Merith Basey, Executive Director of Patients For Affordable Drugs Now.
Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach stated: “Americans across the political spectrum support Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices and want to see the program expand. Instead, Trump and his cronies in Congress are charging ahead with their budget that not only guts Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act to fund billionaire tax breaks, but hands billions in give-aways over to Big Pharma. The contrast couldn’t be more clear.”
