A Bipartisan Regulatory Reform Opportunity: 340B
Despite the rancor, there are many bipartisan opportunities for the divided 118th Congress. Near the top of the to-do list should be reforming the well-intentioned, but poorly designed, 340B drug discount program.
340B enables qualifying institutions to purchase medicines from manufacturers at steep discounts, generally between 25% and 50% off list price, but sometimes even larger. These discounts are supposed to improve the capacity of the clinics and hospitals serving a disproportionate share of low-income and uninsured patients. More and more, this is not how the program is working.
Instead of subsidizing a small number of clinics and hospitals, 340B has become the second largest drug discount program in the country. Over the most recent 5 years, the value of 340B drug purchases have grown over 22% annually.
Click to read the full article in Forbes.
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