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S. 1801: Affordable Medications Act

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S. 1801: Affordable Medications Act

116th Congress · introduced 2019-06-12 · Health · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2019-06-12 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Affordable Medications Act

Plain summary

Affordable Medications Act This bill revises and expands various requirements relating to prescription-drug pricing and affordability. Specifically, the bill expands financial reporting requirements for drug manufacturers and establishes corresponding civil penalties for noncompliance; adds reporting requirements for certain nonprofit patient-assistance programs; requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to negotiate prices for certain prescription drugs under Medicare; requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation within the CMS to test specified models for negotiating drug prices; establishes reporting requirements, and corresponding civil penalties for noncompliance, for pharmaceutical companies with respect to spikes in prescription-drug prices; establishes an excise tax on prescription drugs subject to price spikes; lessens prescription-drug cost-sharing requirements under qualified health plans and group health plans; modifies requirements for the importation of prescription drugs; requires drug manufacturers to provide drug rebates for drugs dispensed to certain low-income individuals under the Medicare program; limits the time frame that trade agreements are required to provide market exclusivity for biological products; establishes an innovation incentive fund for new or more effective treatments of bacterial infections; establishes a Center for Clinical Research within the National Institutes of Health; revises certain time frames and conditions related to drug exclusivity; requires the Food and Drug Administration to establish a database of generic drugs; and modifies other provisions related to generic drugs, prescription-drug advertising, disclosure of wholesale acquisition prices, and patent-infringement proceedings.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Affordable Medications Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

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Arguments against (opponents)

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] · 15 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] reported raising $48,878 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)
Bill
A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong116-s1801 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116