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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.

Today, the Alliance for Integrity and Reform of 340B (AIR340B) released a new report by Health Capital Group that uncovered significant growth in sales within the 340B Drug Pricing Program, including a near 200% increase in hospital participation in the program over the last decade. The question that remains is whether this growth has benefited patients.

Over the last year, the pandemic has upended our normal lives, exacerbated health inequities, and tested the resiliency of our communities as we deal with the public health crisis and subsequent economic fallout. We have also seen a strong reliance on safety-net programs to stem the hardship faced by many Americans, making it all the more important for programs like the 340B Drug Pricing Program to work as intended: to serve as a vital safety-net for low-income, vulnerable, and uninsured patients to access the medicines they need. But a new poll found the majority of voters (70%) worry 340B is not working to benefit needy patients and that it is in dire need of reform.

When a new Congress begins, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) releases its updated “High-Risk List” of programs and operations that are ‘high risk’ due to their vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or that need transformation. The 2021 version has 36 risk areas, including Department of Defense (DOD) Weapons Systems Acquisition, Medicare and Medicaid, and the National Flood Insurance Program.

“The findings from this new poll are a stark reminder of the work we must do to save the 340B program – most importantly, to support the vulnerable and low-income communities that rely on it to help them access their medications. Through greater transparency, accountability, and oversight of the program, we can get 340B back on track so it fully benefits patients,” said former Illinois Congressman and AIR340B Spokesman Bob Dold.

With the expansion of coverage of healthcare in 2010 through the Affordable Care Act, much changed in our efforts to insure the uninsured.

Citing compliance concerns, specifically duplicate discounts, several drug manufacturers took steps to reduce contract pharmacy access to 340B-priced drugs. The move has caused an outcry from covered entities, many of which depend on contract pharmacies to expand patient access, particularly in rural areas.

Alas, hospitals and pharmacies are abusing a federal program meant to help low-income patients. New research from consulting firm Berkeley Research Group reports that these bad actors are lining their own pockets with discounts on prescription drugs at the expense of millions of disadvantaged American patients.