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With the unparalleled effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it makes sense that health care is a top concern for Americans. The virus has wreaked havoc in all corners of the nation. People young and old have all experienced disruption to their livelihoods, but the pandemic has disproportionately impacted underserved communities, making safety-net programs even more critical to addressing health inequities. At the same time, many of these safety-net hospitals that should be champions of vulnerable patients through charity care are instead actually providing less care than even their for-profit counterparts — a clear sign that something is terribly wrong.

The Alliance for Integrity and Reform of 340B (AIR340B) released a new report by Xcenda, titled “340B and Health Equity: A Missed Opportunity in Medically Underserved Areas,” which found a dismal 38% of 340B disproportionate share hospitals (DSH) are located in medically underserved areas (MUAs) as defined by the Health Resources and Services Administration, despite their mission of “serving a significantly disproportionate number of low-income patients.”

Complex health care regulation is always a work in progress. Consider the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which has helped millions of Americans access health insurance. Since 2010, when the act was signed into law, Washington has constantly worked to improve the ACA, and the law has often come under the microscope of lawmakers and even the Supreme Court.

Many poor Americans, as well as those who lack good insurance, often struggle with the high costs of health care services and prescription medications.

On Wednesday, May 26, the Alliance for Integrity and Reform of 340B hosted its annual Stakeholder Summit to discuss the 340B Drug Pricing Program and what must be done to save the program from fraud and misuse. Attendees were unanimous in their proposed solution: focus on the patient.

Despite what you may have heard, the 340B Drug Pricing Program continues to thrive.

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has called for reforming the 340B program since 2014. The 340B safety net program was created in 1992 and derives its name from Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act.

Originally intended as a way to help provide health care to uninsured and underinsured Americans, the 340B program has mutated into a revenue stream that’s benefiting large U.S. hospital systems, contract pharmacies and even pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) while contributing to higher drug prices for patients, according to stakeholders speaking at a May 26 Air 340B summit on the federal program.