introduced the Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act, bipartisan legislation to expand Medicare beneficiaries’ access to more affordable prescription drugs
Expand Medicare beneficiaries' access to more affordable prescription drugs.
Occurrences
H.R. 8143 (IH) - Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act of 2026.
Evidence
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Ms. Matsui (for herself, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, and Mr. Auchincloss) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means... This Act may be cited as the “Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act of 2026.”
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On May 18, 2026, the Supreme Court declined to hear pharmaceutical company appeals, leaving the Medicare drug price negotiation program intact and allowing lower Medicare drug prices to continue.
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To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to continue the Part D Premium Stabilization Demonstration under the Medicare program.
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Selected Drug List and Negotiated Prices, also known as Maximum Fair Prices in Statute (ZIP) (September 21, 2026)
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CMS expects GLOBE will reduce out-of-pocket drug costs for people with Medicare and result in savings to Medicare while preserving or enhancing beneficiaries’ quality of care.
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This final rule implements the Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing Model (GLOBE Model), a new mandatory Medicare payment model under section 1115A of the Social Security Act.
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Beginning April 1, 2023, people with Medicare started to see lower out-of-pocket costs for certain Part B drugs and biologicals
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introduced the Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act, bipartisan legislation to expand Medicare beneficiaries’ access to more affordable prescription drugs.
Assessments
The record shows Matsui made a concrete same-term effort by introducing the Ensuring Access to Lower-Cost Medicines for Seniors Act of 2026, which would have expanded access to lower-cost drugs for Medicare beneficiaries, but that bill was only introduced and referred, not enacted. Separately, Medicare beneficiaries did retain and continue to benefit from lower drug prices through the existing Medicare negotiation program, but the provided evidence does not show Matsui personally delivered or materially drove that outcome. Under a federal candidate-credit standard, that supports limited credit for advancement toward the promise, not full delivery.
The promised outcome was broadly achieved at the federal level through enacted Medicare prescription drug reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, including Medicare drug price negotiation authority, insulin cost caps, vaccine cost-sharing elimination, inflation rebates, and a Part D out-of-pocket cap. Matsui was a sitting House Democrat when the Act passed the House on August 12, 2022 and was signed into law on August 16, 2022, so her vote materially advanced an enacted federal outcome in office. Her 2026 bill to require Part D formularies to include certain lower-cost generics and biosimilars is additional same-term effort, but delivery does not depend on that pending bill.