Massive Bill Mandates All-In Pricing for Tickets and Hotels, Forces PBMs to Pass On 100% of Drug Rebates

This massive piece of legislation, the Lower Costs for Everyday Americans Act, is basically a policy Swiss Army knife, tackling everything from hidden fees to pharmacy reform and even the security of your home Wi-Fi router. It’s an omnibus bill, meaning it’s stuffed with provisions that touch nearly every aspect of daily life, from what you pay for concert tickets to how your Medicare prescription plan works.

At its core, the bill seeks to inject transparency and lower costs into two major areas: consumer commerce (think travel and entertainment) and healthcare (specifically prescription drugs). It also includes critical extensions for dozens of public health programs that were set to run out of money, ensuring they stay funded through 2026 or later.

The End of Hidden Fees (Finally)

If you’ve ever booked a hotel room or bought a concert ticket and been hit with an extra 30% in mandatory fees just before checkout, this bill is for you. The Hotel Fees Transparency Act and the TICKET Act work together to mandate "all-inclusive pricing" across the board.

Starting 450 days after enactment for hotels, and 180 days for tickets, any advertised price must be the total services price, including all mandatory service fees. Sellers can still show the base price and itemized fees, but the final, all-in price must be the most prominent number you see. For tickets, sellers can no longer sell “speculative” tickets they don't actually own, and they must clearly disclose if they are a secondary market seller. This is a huge win for consumers, bringing honesty to online shopping by making sure the price you click on is the price you pay.

Forcing Drug Middlemen to Play Fair

For anyone juggling rising prescription costs, the most significant changes are aimed at Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs)—the opaque middlemen who manage drug benefits for insurance plans. This bill mandates a major overhaul to how PBMs operate under Medicare Part D and private employer plans (ERISA), starting in 2028.

Under SEC. 902, any contract between an insurer and a PBM must ensure that the PBM passes 100% of all rebates, fees, and discounts received from drug manufacturers back to the health plan. PBMs will only be allowed to make money via transparent, fair-market-value service fees. This is a direct shot at “spread pricing,” where PBMs pocket the difference between what they charge the plan and what they pay the pharmacy. The goal is to ensure those massive manufacturer rebates actually lower premiums and out-of-pocket costs for patients, rather than padding the PBM’s bottom line.

Furthermore, PBMs must provide detailed reports every six months to their health plans, showing exactly what they paid for drugs, how much they received in rebates, and how much they kept. Failure to comply can result in civil monetary penalties of $10,000 per day.

Your Data, Your Home, and National Security

This bill uses a surprising amount of ink on technology and security, often with a national security focus. The Foreign Adversary Communications Transparency Act requires the FCC to create and publish a list of companies holding licenses that have ownership ties to certain foreign governments.

Even more directly, the ROUTERS Act requires the Secretary of Commerce to study the national security risks posed by consumer routers and modems manufactured or supplied by companies from “countries of concern” (including China and Russia). If you’ve ever worried about the security of the cheap router you bought online, the federal government is now officially worried, too.

In a move that affects digital safety, the TAKE IT DOWN Act creates new federal crimes for the nonconsensual sharing of intimate visual depictions, including digitally faked images (deepfakes). Crucially, it forces online platforms to establish a clear, easy-to-use process for victims to report and request removal of these images, with a strict 48-hour deadline for platforms to act.

Other Key Provisions and Extensions

• Recycling and Water: The bill significantly boosts the EPA’s ability to track recycling and composting efforts and authorizes a new $30 million grant program to improve recycling infrastructure in underserved communities.
• Battery Safety: The CPSC must adopt mandatory federal safety standards for batteries used in light electric vehicles (like e-bikes and scooters) within 180 days, aiming to prevent the fires that have plagued urban areas.
• Healthcare Stability: Numerous Medicare payment adjustments and extensions are included, such as extending the higher payment rate for low-volume hospitals and extending key telehealth flexibilities until the end of 2026. This means many older Americans can continue accessing remote care without interruption.
• New Research: The bill funds new research initiatives on Down syndrome (the DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Project) and maternal health outcomes (the IMPROVE Initiative), ensuring dedicated federal resources for these underserved areas.

The Bottom Line

This bill is a mixed bag of necessary funding extensions, common-sense consumer protections, and major structural changes to the healthcare industry. While the PBM and fee-transparency mandates are clear wins for the average American wallet, the bill also grants significant new powers and reporting requirements—such as the FCC Chair's authority to deem certain tech companies "not trusted"—that bear close watching. Overall, this legislation aims to make the cost of daily life, from your prescriptions to your concert tickets, more transparent and potentially cheaper.