Sue Veer, President and CEO of Carolina Health Centers, Inc., prepares to testify before the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee
Proposals to sustain and protect the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program are gathering momentum on Capitol Hill. The House Energy & Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee held a hearing yesterday about the program, with lawmakers focusing on a range of issues that included affordability, patient care, and transparency.
Sue Veer, President and CEO of Carolina Health Centers, Inc., and NACHC Board Member, was among the experts called to testify. Veer described how her rural South Carolina health center serves as the primary medical home for over 26,000 patients, operating 16 sites and a wide range of services that include childhood services, behavioral health, and two community pharmacies. Like many Community Health Centers across the country, Carolina Health Centers has experienced devastating financial losses from conditions and restrictions imposed by drug manufacturers, a practice that has flourished due to a lack of clarity in the federal 340B statute.
“Health centers across the country are reducing services and closing practices because of losses to their operating margins and the increased burden of responding to conditions of participation in the program”
Sue Veer, President and CEO of Carolina Health Centers, Inc.
“The 340B Program is at risk and it is our patients who will suffer,” Veer told lawmakers, estimating that their operating margins have been reduced by nearly $700,000 annually. Veer said the 340B contribution supports services such as delivery of medicines to patients who live in remote locations, Early Childhood Services and parenting education for families, behavioral health and substance use disorder services, and oral health.
“Health centers across the country are reducing services and closing practices because of losses to their operating margins and the increased burden of responding to conditions of participation in the program,” said Veer. She also described how 340B covered entities and pharmaceutical manufacturers are treating each other as “adversaries rather than partners” and that the path back to stabilizing the 340B program must not only “include guardrails to protect against arbitrary restrictions and abusive business models, but also provide points of access to accommodate the scope of care provided by each of the 340B covered entity types in the healthcare system.”
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The subcommittee hearing comes on the heels of last week’s introduction of the 340B Affording Care for Communities and Ensuring a Strong Safety-Net (340B ACCESS) Act, sponsored by Reps. Larry Bucshon (IN-8), Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (GA-01), and Diana Harshbarger (TN-01). The measure represents input from diverse stakeholders, led by NACHC, who formed the Alliance to Save America’s 340B Program (ASAP 340B) and provides a path to sustain the federal 340B program for all stakeholders. The introduction of House bill (a bipartisan group of Senators have also introduced a discussion draft of legislation earlier), is only the beginning of a long and deliberative process to ensure a comprehensive bill crosses the finish line.
“The legislative process is lengthy and allows for refinement and improvement of proposed laws through debate, discussion, and amendment. It is essential that stakeholders who may have questions about ‘The 340B Access Act’ continue to share their perspectives and support the process. This helps create effective, fair, and comprehensive legislation that can stabilize the program for the long-term,” said Joe Dunn, SVP for Policy and Advocacy at NACHC.
The full subcommittee hearing titled “Oversight of 340B Drug Pricing Program” can be viewed at this link.
Learn more about the 340B ACCESS bill that NACHC supports.