Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act
Current understanding
Legislation that would require Medicare Part D prescription drug plans to include generic drugs and biosimilars on their formularies and prohibit imposing more restrictive utilization-management (e.g., prior authorization, step therapy) requirements on these lower-cost products than on their brand-name reference drugs. The bill would also require plans to maintain specific cost-sharing tiers for generics and biosimilars, aiming to ensure that formulary design does not blunt price advantages of non-brand alternatives. Status: introduced.
Evidence log
- 2026-04-16 — Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act: cross-connection with biosimilar-review-streamlining: Both address biosimilar market access — one by streamlining FDA review, the other by requiring Part D formulary/UM parity so approved biosimilars reach patients on equal footing with reference biologics. (novelty: 3)