Why Congress should prioritize fixing the 340B program

Nearly all Americans nationwideagree: Lowering out-of-pocket costs for health care should be a top priority for policymakers. Luckily, there are commonsense policies Congress could implement to meaningfully address the cost burdens Americans face. These include things like making sure patients aren ’t paying more for their medicines than their health insurance company or requiring first-dollar coverage, so insurance companies cover the cost of certain lifesaving medicines from day one of the plan year. These are concrete steps, but they aren’t the only ones Congress could take. Take 340B. It would be a mistake if Congress continued to overlook the critically important need to fix the340B Drug Pricing Program to ensure it is making medicines more affordable for low-income and other vulnerable patients. Here's how the program is (not) working. Biopharmaceutical manufacturers provide steep discounts on outpatient medications (amounting to tens of billions of dollars a year) to 340B covered entities, which include certain hospitals and community health centers. These savings are supposed to be used by 340B covered entities to ensure patients have affordable access to medicines. Instead, large hospitals can buy deeply discounted 340B medicines and then turn around and charge patients higher prices, often using profits to buy community-based physician practices in wealthier neighborhoods to generate even more revenue from the 340B program. Check out recent covera...
Source: The Catalyst - Category: Pharmaceuticals Tags: 340B Hospitals Source Type: news