AHA op-ed: 340B program benefits patients, communities

Congress should preserve the 340B Drug Pricing Program to protect access to life-saving medications and services for vulnerable hospital patients, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack writes today in the Congress blog at The Hill. “The exorbitant cost of prescription drugs threatens access and affordability for millions of Americans who need life-saving medications,” he notes. “That is why the 340B Drug Pricing Program, which provides discounts on drugs to some health care providers who serve large numbers of low-income and uninsured patients, is so critical. The program constitutes less than 2% of the pharmaceutical industry’s $374 billion in U.S. sales, but the pharmaceutical industry wants to scale it back or eliminate it. That is the wrong prescription for advancing the health of underserved communities, and vulnerable patients would be the ones who suffer.”