Cancer patients treated in hospital outpatient departments are almost four times more likely than those treated in physician offices to be uninsured or covered by Medicaid, a new study commissioned by the American Hospital Association shows. They also tend to be sicker and come from lower-income communities. Unlike other studies that have erroneously examined the zip codes of … [Read more...]
Ex-U.S. Rep. Gutknecht: Stop Big Pharma From Gutting 340B
Bravo to former Congressman Gil Gutknecht for his Veteran's Day op-ed in Tucker Carlson's The Daily Caller news site urging "policy makers in general and conservatives in particular [to] fight to defend and preserve" 340B. Read it here and spread the word about it on Twitter and other social media. Gutknecht, a Minnesota Republican, served six terms in the U.S. House starting … [Read more...]
Superb Critique of a Flawed 340B Study and its Unfounded Conclusions
Madeline Carpinelli Wallack's response to the recent study in Health Affairs on hospitals' alleged misuse of 340B drug discounts scores a direct hit on a highly flawed piece of research. We wrote about SNHPA's and AHA's reactions to the Health Affairs study earlier this month. Researchers Rena Conti and Peter Bach said they found that "that hospital-affiliated clinics that … [Read more...]
Hospitals Rebut 340B Study’s Conclusions
Hospitals groups have issued strong rebuttals of a new study in the journal Health Affairs that its authors say supports criticism by the drug industry and others that disproportionate share hospitals increasingly use 340B savings to help themselves at the expense of the poor. In a reply article published in Health Affairs, Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access says … [Read more...]
How 340B Saves Lives on the Gulf Coast
Kudos to Executive Insight staff writer Michael Jones for his moving profile of Shannon Williams, an uninsured Mississippi woman with cancer who received lifesaving charity care from Monroe County Hospital in Monroeville, Ala., made possible by the hospital's participation in 340B. She originally received treatment from the hospital in 2006 when she had health insurance and … [Read more...]
340B Essential for Hospital Oncology Practices
Two leading oncologists detail the importance of the 340B program in the inaugural issue of Oncology Payers. In the article, Robert Chapman, M.D. and William Wood tout the benefits of the program stating, “From the inner city of Detroit to the small towns of Michigan and Kentucky, the program provides an invaluable mechanism for the delivery of quality cancer care as well as … [Read more...]
Former U.S. Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.) Goes to Bat for 340B
"With so much partisan squabbling in Washington, it’s important to remember there are programs that not only work, but enjoy bipartisan backing," former U.S. Rep Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.) reminds readers of The Hill's Congress Blog this morning. And the 340B drug discount program is one of them, he says. "I was proud to support it when I served in Congress," Gutknecht … [Read more...]