On July 3, 2025, Bryan Steil, the House member for Wisconsin's 1st District, voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which exempts more drugs from Medicare price negotiation and costs Medicare an additional $8.8 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Before that, Steil voted in 2019 against a House bill to let Medicare negotiate prices for up to 250 drugs, and in 2022 against a $35 monthly insulin cap for people with private insurance and against Medicare drug price negotiation in the Inflation Reduction Act, a policy 85% of the public supported in a March 2026 KFF poll. In Wisconsin, 1,315,539 people were enrolled in Medicare in 2024.
Bryan Steil's Votes on Drug Prices and Insulin
- Steil Voted to Exempt More Drugs From Medicare Price Negotiation in July 2025. On July 3, 2025, Bryan Steil voted for final passage of H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed 218 to 214. Its section 71203 widens the exemption for orphan drugs, those approved for rare diseases, from Medicare drug price negotiation. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the change costs Medicare an additional $8.8 billion, and KFF expects it to delay selection of the cancer drugs Keytruda and Opdivo for negotiation "by at least one year"; in 2023, "Medicare and beneficiaries spent $5.6 billion on Keytruda and $2.0 billion on Opdivo."
- Steil Voted Against a $35 Insulin Cap for People With Private Insurance in 2022. On March 31, 2022, Steil voted against the Affordable Insulin Now Act, which passed 232 to 193 with 12 Republican votes. It required that "a group health plan or health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance coverage shall provide coverage of selected insulin products" without a deductible and capped what patients pay at $35 per 30-day supply. The bill never became law, and four years later people with private insurance still had no federal cap: in July 2026 the Senate was considering a bill that "would cap the cost of insulin at $35 per month for people on private insurance," KOLD reported.
- Steil Voted Against Medicare Drug Price Negotiation, Which 85% of the Public Supports, in 2022. On August 12, 2022, Steil voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed 220 to 207 and lets Medicare negotiate prices for some drugs. His position runs against the public: KFF reported in March 2026 that 85% of the public supported allowing the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices for people with Medicare.
- Steil Voted Against Letting Medicare Negotiate Prices for Up to 250 Drugs in 2019. On December 12, 2019, Steil voted against H.R. 3, the Elijah E. Cummings Lower Drug Costs Now Act, which passed 230 to 192 and died in the Senate. The Racine Journal Times reported, in a story his office reposted on its website, that the bill would have let the federal government negotiate prices for up to 250 brand-name drugs for people on Medicare. The negotiation program enacted later, in the Inflation Reduction Act he also opposed, began with 10 drugs and can add up to 20 a year, far short of 250, KFF reports.
What Bryan Steil's Drug-Price Votes Mean for Wisconsin
- 1.3 million Wisconsinites on Medicare depend on drug price negotiation. 1,315,539 Wisconsinites were enrolled in Medicare in 2024, according to KFF; they are the people whose prescription costs depend on which drugs Medicare can negotiate, including the cancer drugs the law keeps out of negotiation longer.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bryan Steil on Prescription drugs
What is Bryan Steil's record on prescription drug prices under Trump?
Bryan Steil voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, whose wider orphan-drug exemption costs Medicare $8.8 billion. Before Trump's second term, he voted against Medicare negotiation in 2019 and 2022 and against a $35 insulin cap for people with private insurance. In a March 2026 KFF poll, 72% of adults said government does too little to limit what drugs cost.
Did Bryan Steil vote for the $35 insulin cap?
No. Bryan Steil voted against the Affordable Insulin Now Act on March 31, 2022, which would have capped insulin at $35 a month for people with private insurance; it passed the House but not the Senate, and in July 2026 senators were again weighing a cap for privately insured patients, KOLD reported.
What did Bryan Steil's 2025 vote mean for Medicare negotiation of cancer drugs like Keytruda?
The law Bryan Steil voted for on July 3, 2025 widened the orphan-drug exemption, which KFF says will delay the two cancer drugs' selection for negotiation. KFF estimated a Keytruda user would have seen "annual savings on cost-sharing liability of around $3,300" from negotiation.
Last updated: 2026-10-26