April 18, 2022— A nearly two-year dispute between hospitals participating in the 340B drug discount program and a group of drug companies pulling back from their 340B commitments has fully entered a new phase of legal wrangling. Over the coming months, three federal appeals courts will review lower court decisions that came to differing conclusions on what federal law says … [Read more...]
340B Hospitals Showed Resiliency Under Duress in 2021
April 8, 2022— New research demonstrates the essential role that the 340B drug pricing program played for safety-net hospitals in a year marked by enormous financial pressures that were both naturally occurring and manmade. An annual 340B Health survey of more than 500 hospitals participating in 340B found that all reported using savings they received through drug discounts … [Read more...]
New Law Protects 340B Hospitals from Eligibility Loss During COVID-19
March 31, 2022– Safety-net hospitals have been on the front lines of our national response to the COVID-19 public health emergency since it started in 2020. They have had to absorb massive changes in their day-to-day operations to serve waves of COVID patients. They scrambled to increase hospital bed and intensive care unit capacity, cared for COVID patients while taking … [Read more...]
Drugmakers Cutting 340B Discounts Reported Record Revenues Last Year
March 10, 2022– The 14 drug companies that have imposed or announced restrictions on safety-net hospital access to 340B drug pricing program discounts collectively brought in more than a half-trillion dollars in revenues in 2021. The banner year for the drugmakers occurred as hospitals reported increasing losses of 340B savings from the cuts. Last month, most drug companies … [Read more...]
A 340B Community Comes Together to Celebrate
By Maureen Testoni Feb. 17, 2022– In many ways, last month’s 340B Coalition Winter Conference in San Diego was a cause for celebration. We celebrated the first chance we had to come together in person as a community in two years. And we celebrated the start of a historic year for the 340B drug pricing program, which will turn 30 years old this November. When 340B … [Read more...]
GlaxoSmithKline Policy Threatens Asthma Care
Feb. 16, 2022– Just days after President Biden spoke out in support of the 340B drug pricing program, drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced it will begin withholding 340B discounts starting in April for most safety-net hospitals. That action will bring the number of drug companies violating the 340B law to 14. In 2021, GSK reported more than $45 billion in global sales, … [Read more...]
Survey Shows the Loss of 340B Savings is a Big and Growing Problem for Safety-Net Hospitals
Feb. 2, 2022– More than a dozen pharmaceutical companies have pulled back on 340B drug pricing program discounts that federal law requires them to offer safety-net hospitals that care for the nation’s patients who are in the most need. New survey data demonstrate how these drugmaker actions already have taken major bites out of the resources that hospitals rely on to fulfill … [Read more...]