Hospitals brief Congress on benefits of 340B program, concerns with HRSA guidance

At an AHA-sponsored briefing today on Capitol Hill, hospital leaders shared with congressional staff the many benefits that the 340B Drug Pricing Program brings to vulnerable patients and urged Congress to preserve the program. “People within the communities that Trinity Health serves receive tremendous and likely irreplaceable benefits” from the 340B program, including free or reduced prescription medications, enhanced clinical pharmacy services and other services that enhance the health of individuals and communities, said Bob Ripley, vice president and chief pharmacy officer for Trinity Health in Livonia, MI. Leaders from Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, Saint Thomas Health (part of Ascension Health) in Nashville, TN, and Providence Health & Services in Seattle participated in the briefing. They expressed concerns with many aspects of recent guidance proposed by the Health Resources and Services Administration – the federal agency responsible for overseeing the 340B program – and said it could jeopardize hospitals’ ability to care for vulnerable patients and communities. In conjunction with the briefing, AHA released a new animated video and infographic on the 340B program. For more, see today’s AHASTAT blog post.