October 18, 2019– Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), a longtime champion of the 340B drug pricing program, defended the program during a key congressional hearing to consider drug pricing legislation. Yesterday’s House Energy & Commerce Committee meeting to mark up the Lower Drug Costs Now Act of 2019 (H.R. 3) featured the introduction of an amendment that would have limited … [Read more...]
Survey Raises Questions About Duplicate Discounts
Oct. 17, 2019– A newly released survey on the interplay of the 340B drug discount program and Medicaid has raised questions about what federal and state rules are in place to prevent duplicate discounts. The bottom line is that several such rules already exist in all 50 states to prevent pharmaceutical manufacturers from paying both a 340B discount and a Medicaid rebate on the … [Read more...]
New Study: No Clinical Evidence Behind U.S. Price Hikes for Costliest Drugs
October 15, 2019— The manufacturers of seven widely used drugs raised their prices with no clinical evidence to support those increases, according to a new study by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), an independent research organization. These price hikes added $5.1 billion to the amount Americans spent on prescription drugs between 2017 and 2018. Among … [Read more...]
For 340B Hospitals, Mental Health is Health
October 10, 2019— During this National Mental Illness Awareness Week, you might notice an increase in people stating the mantra of “mental health is health.” For safety-net hospitals participating in the 340B drug pricing program, this quote could not ring truer. The health professionals working at 340B hospitals are especially well-equipped to understand that for patients to … [Read more...]
Faces of 340B: Sending Patients Home for Good
October 8, 2019— When the health professionals at Kootenai Health send a patient home, one of their main goals is not to see that patient back in the hospital again any time soon. That’s why the 299-bed medical center in rural northern Idaho utilizes its 340B savings to ensure that discharged patients obtain the medications they need to stay healthy at home, especially if they … [Read more...]
Our Message to CMS: End the Medicare 340B Cuts Now
Sept. 30, 2019– Since 2018, Medicare payment cuts to many 340B hospitals have reduced the already limited resources that hospitals rely on to care for their patients living with low incomes. With the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposing to continue those reductions into 2020, 340B Health is calling on the agency to end the cuts now and fully pay back … [Read more...]
Meet Some of the Champions of 340B
Sept. 26, 2019— When one discusses the 340B drug pricing program, the talk often turns to complex compliance and implementation issues such as actual acquisition prices, split billing software, and penny pricing. But it’s important to remember that there also are dedicated people working with all this complexity to make the program a success in helping patients. We recently … [Read more...]