Drug pricing program needs reform

The 340B Drug Pricing Program was created in 1992 specifically to help vulnerable patients access medicines at safety-net clinics and hospitals. Specific clinics and hospitals qualify for deep discounts from pharmaceutical manufacturers by being federal grantees and serving large numbers of uninsured or otherwise disadvantaged patients. Today this well-intentioned program has expanded far beyond its original scope to the detriment of the patients it was intended to help.

Many of our rural patients fall into the categories the 340B program was created to help, they are uninsured or low-income. They are in danger of being unable to access the health care they need for a variety of reasons ranging from affordability to ease of access. They should be able to rely on 340B clinics and hospitals for care, however despite massive growth in the 340B program there is no correlation between that growth and expanded charity care. Today about 40% of all hospitals in the country participate in the 340B program, and 63% of those hospitals have charity care rates below the 2.7% national average for all hospitals.

In order to ensure that the 340B program is helping the patients it was intended to help Congress should exercise its oversight authority by clarifying the definition of a 340B patient so hospitals and clinics can use it as a guide. Additionally, increasing transparency in the program to ensure accountability would go a long way in confirming that vulnerable patients are the ones actually seeing the benefits of 340B discounts.

Dwight Baldwin

Kellogg