S 475
119th Congress
Senate
Health
Drug therapy
Health care costs and insurance
Medicare
Prescription drugs
Alternatives to PAIN Act
Introduced: May 20, 2026
See on congress.gov
Everywhere this bill has been
2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 6, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Feb 6, 2025
Introduced in Senate
Plain-English summary
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.
What's happening now
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Committees of jurisdiction
1