340B Drug Pricing Program: Topic Overview
The federal 340B Drug Pricing Program is an essential source of support for Community Health Centers, allowing them to stretch increasingly scarce federal resources and reinvest in patient care. The program allows health centers to purchase outpatient drugs at significantly reduced costs. Health centers reinvest the savings into activities that further the mission of improving patients’ lives. These savings enable each health center to meet the unique needs of their communities, like dental care, behavioral health, specialty care, interpretation services, food banks, housing support, and co-pay assistance programs. Health center patients include people living with HIV, people who have lost their jobs and health insurance in the economic decline, or even essential workers who test positive for COVID-19 but do not require hospitalization. The cost of medicines can easily push them further into poverty, disease, or even death.
Current Threats to the 340B Program
NACHC is concerned about ongoing actions by drug companies that threaten patient access to critical medicines available through the federal 340B Program. These attacks have diverted savings away from patient care and into corporate pockets, ultimately tying the hands of health center doctors and other care providers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alliance to Save America’s 340B Program
NACHC, alongside PhRMA, formed the Alliance to Save America’s 340B Program (ASAP 340B) to work towards a Congressional solution to clarify parts of the 340B program. This partnership, which also includes patient, provider, and consumer advocates, aims to ensure the 340B program supports true safety-net providers and the communities they serve. NACHC is excited to work collaboratively to find solutions for all stakeholders in the 340B program. Learn more about ASAP 340B and the group’s policy principles.
