Families USA Urges Congress and CMS to Build on Recent Drug Pricing Progress, Warns Against Loopholes

08.17.2026 / Press Release

In two comment letters submitted today, Families USA calls for stronger Medicare drug negotiation rules and warns against loopholes that allow drug companies to dodge negotiation that would bring prices down

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Families USA submitted two comment letters urging Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to build on that progress instead of letting drug companies find new ways to avoid regulation and keep their prices artificially high.

"Medicare drug negotiation is working well, and we need to extend the benefits for more discounts for more drugs for more patients. We need to double down on the progress of Medicare negotiation to expand the program, and close every loophole drug companies try to exploit," said Anthony Wright, Executive Director at Families USA.

In comments responding to members of the Senate Finance Committee's request for information on drug pricing, Families USA urges lawmakers to build on the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) by:

• Strengthening and expanding the Medicare Drug Negotiation Program by:
  • Increasing the number of drugs eligible for negotiation
  • Making negotiated prices available to commercial insurers
• Extending the IRA's Medicare inflationary rebates to the commercial market
• Promoting healthy generic competition by boosting the biosimilar market
• Increasing transparency and accountability for high launch prices

Families USA also warns Congress and CMS against relying too heavily on what other countries pay for prescription drugs as the basis for U.S. prices - a method that risks gaming by multinational drug companies - leading to prices that are both inflated and misaligned with the health and health care needs of our nation's families. Instead, Congress and CMS should strengthen our nation's capacity to independently achieve rational drug pricing, including by strengthening the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program's method for setting negotiated prices to ensure they are aligned with a drug's actual clinical benefit to patients. In a separate comment letter in response to CMS' proposed rule (CMS-4215-P), Families USA strongly backs the agency's proposal to

• Codify the negotiation program into federal regulation
• Closing a "product hopping" loophole that could let drug companies dodge negotiation by making minor tweaks to their existing drugs.

However, Families USA also pushes CMS to go further by:

• Reinstating a fuller public list of high-cost drugs eligible for negotiation
• Avoiding the use of therapeutic alternative prices - already distorted by market failures - as the starting point for setting negotiated prices and instead use a non-biased cost-effectiveness approach

More than 40% of adults report skipping doses, rationing medications, or going without filling a prescription altogether because of cost. Families USA and other consumer and patient groups will continue pushing Congress and CMS to close these loopholes and ensure affordable access to needed medications.