Drug ads must show the price. Here's why that matters.
H.R. 4623 — Plain Prescription Prices Act · Filed by Nikema Williams (D-GA) · 4 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 22, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill requires pharmaceutical companies to display the list price of prescription drugs in direct-to-consumer TV advertisements (broadcast, cable, streaming, satellite). The price shown must be truthful, not misleading, and reflect the cost for a typical 30-day supply or course of treatment. The HHS Secretary, through CMS, has one year to write the detailed rules on how prices are displayed, what other price info might be included, and how violations are enforced.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative mechanism is a disclosure requirement — it mandates that pharmaceutical advertisers include truthful pricing information in direct-to-consumer ads. This is a transparency/disclosure measure, not a price control, subsidy, or deregulation.
What the text implies
- The bill applies only to drugs covered by Medicare/Medicaid (Title XVIII/XIX), potentially leaving uninsured or privately insured patients without price transparency for some medications.
- CMS retains discretion to define 'list price' and may face pressure from industry to adopt definitions that obscure actual out-of-pocket costs (e.g., excluding rebates, copay assistance, or negotiated rates).
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who it affects
Ordinary people gain transparency about drug costs before deciding whether to ask their doctor about a medication, reducing the information asymmetry that currently favors pharmaceutical marketing. The bill does not restrict access, impose costs on patients, or create new barriers — it only requires truthful disclosure of existing list prices in ads that already run.