ENSURING FEDERAL DRUG PROGRAM SERVES PATIENTS, NOT PROFITS
Sprawling government health care programs can mean billions are wasted or misappopriated. The 340-B program, a $29b effort to lower the cost of prescription drugs for those most in need, is a classic case. The program has morphed into a source of profits for hospitals and other providers, taking billions in benefits away from low income and underserved families in need. CHAIN is working toward restoring integrity to the 340-B program, and calling out similar government initiatives that have gone off course.
Prescription Drugs: Spending, Use, and Prices
In recent years, policymakers have expressed concerns about the high prices of prescription drugs. Those drugs offer wide-ranging benefits, such as reducing the need for services provided by physicians and hospitals, improving the quality of life, and extending life. However, high prices reduce consumers’ access to such medications. They also contribute to higher spending that strains budgets, including the federal budget.
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57772
HOW INTENT MORPHS INTO ABUSE
The 340B program is a classic case of good government intent can morph into abuse, and why we should exercise extreme caution with further government intervention.
According to the Pacific Research Institute:
By attempting to help vulnerable patient populations in such an overly complicated manner, the 340B program creates inefficiencies throughout the broader healthcare system… These include vulnerable patients not receiving any of the price savings, the abuse of the 340B program by covered entities, increased incentives to prescribe more expensive medicines, a shifting of drug costs on to non 340B patients, and an unwarr-anted consolidation of medical practices. Due to these inefficiencies, the 340B program worsens the quality of the overall health care system.
Instead of drug discounts flowing to those families most in need, the PRI report demonstrates how millions of dollars are likely flowing to the coffers of hospitals and other providers.
Comprehensive Regulatory Reform From The Bottom Up: The Case Of 340B
PUSH FOR GOVERNMENT AND INSTITUTIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY
A report by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) layout out the path for greater accountability. The GAO found major gaps in the administration of the program and lax accounting/reporting standards. They conclude their work with six strong recommendations for reforming how the 340B program operates, including audits that verify the proceeds from discounted drugs are being used to lower the cost to consumers in need.
SUPPORT COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO ARE TAKING ACTION
CHAIN fully supports Coloradans engaged in demanding greater accountability and transparency in the 340B program. We urge everyone to look at 340B as the cautionary tale for why creating massive government programs to address health care inequities should be among the last strategies used.
- Jennifer Churchfield, is chair of the Colorado Health Advocacy Information Network, a not-for-profit statewide organization focused on getting politics out of healthcare. Opinion: Hospitals aren’t passing some drug-price reductions to patients (coloradosun.com)
- Vickie Wilhite – Together Colorado, Board of Directors. Together Colorado is a faith-based organization focused on uplifting at-risk and lower-income communities. LETTERS: Congress should act on Colorado hospitals taking advantage of systems to serve low-income patients – Sentinel Colorado
- Meredith Gleitz – One Colorado, Policy Manager. Ms. Gleitz is the policy manager for One Colorado, the state’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization. Hospitals are swindling patients through a loophole in a prescription drug program – Colorado Newsline
- Jennifer Churchfield, is chair of the Colorado Health Advocacy Information Network, a not-for-profit statewide organization focused on getting politics out of healthcare. Opinion: Hospitals aren’t passing some drug-price reductions to patients (coloradosun.com)