Fix the 340B Program to Increase Access to Medicine

Fix the 340B Program to Increase Access to Medicine

House lawmakers recently introduced legislation that would at last repair a program meant to provide low-income Americans with affordable medicine.

In theory, the federal 340B Program, named after the section of the 1992 law establishing it, allows hospitals serving underprivileged groups to buy medications at steep discounts. The idea was to improve access to drugs in areas where price was a barrier.

The problem is that the law has a loophole big enough to drive an ambulance through. Hospitals have exploited it, at the expense of patients, ever since.

Click to read the full article in The Well News.