At a time when Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates continue to shrink, reducing or eliminating 340B could cripple safety net providers across the U.S., the president of the Institute for Healthcare Innovation writes today in Healthcare Finance.
“Without a strong and vibrant 340B program, safety net providers may not be able to afford high-priced medications developed by pharmaceutical manufacturers to address the growing needs of chronically ill Americans,” says Jeffrey Lewis. “Many patients with hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS, COPD, multiple sclerosis and asthma, for example, would have to go without lifesaving medications. The challenge, indeed the opportunity, is to create a solution that modernizes the existing 340B infrastructure.”
Covered entities should do more to “explain how 340B program savings are used and whom it benefits,” he says. “The challenge is to use Congressional oversight to explore the value of the program and explain in public hearings and on the floor of the House and Senate that the program needs to be bolstered. Town Hall Meetings should be held all across America, where Federally Qualified Health Centers, Disproportionate Share Hospitals (that often reside in America’s toughest neighborhoods) and rural clinics have helped keep communities alive by providing needed medical care.”
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