Hospitals Stress Importance of 340B Drug Discount Program at Hill Briefing
November 16, 2016—Hospitals from coast to coast came to Capitol Hill today to tell Congress and the incoming Trump administration to do no harm to the 340B drug discount program.
Hospital representatives from New York state, Wisconsin, Texas, and California explained at a standing-room-only congressional staff briefing that they depend heavily on 340B savings to care for low-income and otherwise vulnerable patients. They cited research showing that hospitals in the drug discount program provide care to more poor patients, more uncompensated care, and more money-losing services. All of the speakers raised serious concerns about how the high cost of pharmaceuticals is impacting their budget.
The University of Rochester Medical Center uses its 340B savings to provide free medications to patients in need, including oncology drugs. “340B helps us provide services to people in rural and underserved areas who otherwise would not be able to access that kind of care,” said Peter Robinson, URMC's chief operating officer and vice president of government and community relations.
The program helps Unity Point Health Meriter in Madison, Wis., provide discharge medications to uninsured patients. The hospital has also supplied free Epi-Pens to patients in financial need. “340B is accomplishing its goals and impacting patients’ lives,” said Nick Gnadt, manager of ambulatory pharmacy services.
Seton Family of Hospitals in Austin, Texas, has five hospitals enrolled in 340B. The catholic system provides $357 million in uncompensated care each year. It uses its $7 million in annual 340B savings to provide free medications, a nursing program in local public schools and a medical mission on weekends to the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
“It is very important to keep the 340B program going if we want to treat the poor in this country,” said Shewan Aziz, network director of pharmacy at the Seton Family of Hospitals.
340B savings help Sutter Health in Sacramento, Calif., help pay for outreach to the indigent, including the Street Nurse program that provides free medications and medical services to the homeless. They also help fund a ride program to help poor patients get to their medical appointments.
The 340B program was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 and expanded to rural hospitals under the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
Contact Randy Barrett at (202) 536-2285 or randy.barrett@340bhealth.org.