On Wednesday, July 22, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee voted to advance several bills to make healthcare more affordable and accessible for American families, including the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act.

“We believe this bill can save the average American family about $1,000 a year,” U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS), said at a press conference on the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act. “If you take an average Kansas family making around $70,000 a year and give them an extra $1,000 in savings, that’s real money.”

Consumer groups applauded the passing of the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act as well as other healthcare affordability bills.

“The passage of the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act, and of a similar bill in the House yesterday, demonstrates the real momentum we have on Capitol Hill to address high costs of healthcare,” Families USA executive director Anthony Wright said in a statement.

The Council for Affordable Health Coverage also commended the bill’s advancement: “By strengthening healthcare price transparency requirements and giving consumers clearer, more useful information, this bipartisan legislation will help patients compare their options, make informed decisions, and avoid unexpected costs.”

In a statement, Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) President and CEO David J. Skorton, M.D., and chief public policy officer Danielle Turnipseed, J.D., MHSA, MPP, expressed concerns about the Patients Deserve Price Tags Act: “The AAMC is concerned that it would create significant operational challenges for academic health systems and teaching hospitals without necessarily improving access to care or affordability for patients.”

The AAMC did express appreciation for the advancement of the EMPOWER Health Act and the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2025. “The AAMC and 73 other healthcare organizations agree that reauthorizing these vital healthcare workforce development programs is a critical step toward ensuring patients everywhere have access to timely, high-quality care.”

The bills approved include:

• Patients Deserve Price Tags Act

• INSULIN Act of 2026

• Making America’s Food Safer Act

• Childhood Diabetes Reduction Act

• Expedited Access to Biosimilars Act

• CLEAR LABELS Act

• SAFE Drugs Act of 2026

• National Plan for Epilepsy Act

• EMPOWER for Health Act

• Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2025

• Rural Obstetrics Readiness Act