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H.R. 639 119th Congress House

Doctor Knows Best Act of 2025

Official title: To prohibit group health plans, health insurance issuers, and Federal health care programs from applying prior authorization requirements, utilization manageme… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: To prohibit group health plans, health insurance issuers, and Federal health care programs from applying prior authorization requirements, utilization management techniques, and medical necessity reviews.

Introduced: January 22, 2025 Introduced by: Jefferson Van Drew Republican · New Jersey See on congress.gov
Health Health care costs and insuranceHealth care coverage and access
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 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Jan 22, 2025
Introduced in House
Jan 22, 2025
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 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.
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What's happening now January 22, 2025

Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 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.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Doctor Knows Best Act of 2025

This bill prohibits health insurance plans (including federal health care programs) from imposing a prior authorization requirement, utilization management technique (e.g., step therapy or fail-first protocol), or medical necessity review for any item or service for which benefits are available under the plan.

The prohibition is effective for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.

 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 2
 Lobbying activity 16

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 639: Doctor Knows Best Act of 2025. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-639/
MLA
"H.R. 639: Doctor Knows Best Act of 2025." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-639/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 639, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-639/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 639: Doctor Knows Best Act of 2025](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-HR-639/)
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