Alternatives to PAIN Act
Official title: To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to ensure appropriate access to non-opioid pain management drugs under part D of the Medicare program.
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Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Alternatives to Prevent Addiction In the Nation Act or the Alternatives to PAIN Act
This bill reduces cost-sharing and prohibits the imposition of certain utilization requirements under the Medicare prescription drug benefit for certain non-opioid pain management drugs.
Specifically, the bill requires such drugs to be covered without a deductible and to be placed on the lowest cost-sharing tier (if any). The bill also prohibits the imposition of prior authorization requirements (i.e., requiring prior approval from a plan) or step therapy requirements (i.e., requiring the use of alternative drugs before a drug is covered under a plan) with respect to such drugs.
- Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
- CGCN GROUP, LLC
- MARSHALL & POPP, LLC
- AVENUE SOLUTIONS
- STANTON PARK GROUP
- AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSE PRACTITIONERS
- AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION
Bodies those filers lobbied
- HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
- SENATE
- Health & Human Services, Dept of (HHS)
- Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
- White House Office
- Office of Management & Budget (OMB)
- Executive Office of the President (EOP)
- Labor, Dept of (DOL)
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 1227: Alternatives to PAIN Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-1227/
"H.R. 1227: Alternatives to PAIN Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-1227/.
H.R. 1227, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-1227/.
[H.R. 1227: Alternatives to PAIN Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-1227/)