July 8, 2011—The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) should take action against states that are not collecting Medicaid rebates on physician-administered drugs bought outside of the 340B program, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) recommends in a new report. As a result, some hospitals may see greater activity by … [Read more...]
CMS Issues Medicare Hospital Outpatient Payment Proposal for 2012
Payment rate for separately payable drugs & biologicals set at ASP plus 4%.July 8, 2011—The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed to budget $41.9 billion for Medicare reimbursement to hospital outpatient facilities in 2012, an increase of 1.5 percent above this year's level. At the same time, the payment rate for separately payable drugs and biologicals would decrease by 1 percent. In a proposed rule for the Hospital … [Read more...]
New Report Illustrates 340B’s Value to Hospitals and their Patients
Health centers also release findings about program's importance.June 29, 2011—The 340B drug discount program enables participating hospitals to provide pharmaceutical care to the nation’s most vulnerable patient populations and is critical to their continued operations, according to a new report on how hospitals use the program. The study was written by Madeline Carpinelli Wallack and Suzanne Bailey Herzog, both former analysts at the U.S. … [Read more...]
Congressional Democrats Seek Rebates on Part D Drugs
Requirement might create a 340B duplicate discount challenge.June 24, 2011—Leading Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate have introduced legislation to require drug manufactures to give Medicare Part D plans rebates on prescription drug for those dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, saying the change would save the government more than $100 billion over 10 years. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (PhRMA) is … [Read more...]
340B Hospitals Refute Program’s Linkage to Drug Shortages
Debate plays out in the blog of a noted health policy journalJune 23, 2011—Hospitals enrolled in the 340B drug discount program have taken strong exception to a guest column in an influential health policy journal's blog that asserts that 340B is contributing to severe drug shortages. In a June 8 essay in Health Affairs Blog, John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) said that 340B was part of "a web of [federal] … [Read more...]
New Motion Filed in Landmark 340B Overcharging Case
Calif. county seeks to give evidence of alleged violations to federal government.June 20, 2011—A California county and its safety-net health care providers have asked a federal district judge for permission to give the federal government secret documents and other evidence that they say show that nine major drug companies overcharged them millions of dollars for 340B-discounted medicines. The June 2 motion in federal district court in San Francisco is an … [Read more...]
Report: States Need Better Tools to Oversee Medicaid Reimbursement of 340B Drugs
HRSA and CMS Need to Provide More Guidance, HHS Inspector General recommends.June 16, 2011—State Medicaid agencies lack either the policies or the information that they need to oversee reimbursements for drugs bought under the 340B drug discount program, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) said in a new report issued late yesterday. The report , which was written by the OIG's Office of Evaluations and … [Read more...]