End Price Gouging for Medications Act

Key Points

• The bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to set annual reference prices for every prescription drug. The maximum price would be based on the lowest retail price found among 12 wealthy nations, including Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
• These price caps would apply across all major federal health programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, TRICARE, VA health care, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, and Indian Health Service programs.
• The price limits would also extend beyond federal programs to cover everyone, including uninsured individuals and those with private employer or individual health insurance.
• Drug companies that charge more than the reference price would face a civil penalty equal to five times the excess revenue they collected. The fine money would be transferred to the National Institutes of Health for drug research.
• For drugs where pricing data is not available in at least three of the reference countries, the Secretary would set an appropriate price based on factors like therapeutic value, research costs, and patient access.