Penn Live: Hospital Giants are Hijacking Drug Discounts Meant for the Poor
By Jennifer Riley, Patients Come First Pennsylvania’s Executive Director
As we celebrate National Health Center Week (August 3-9), it’s a timely reminder of the essential role Community Health Centers (CHCs) play across Pennsylvania. More than 400 CHCs in the commonwealth serve more than one million patients annually, many of them low-income, uninsured, or living in medically underserved communities.
An important tool CHCs use to expand access is the 340B Drug Pricing Program, which requires drug manufacturers to offer discounts to safety-net providers. The program was designed to reduce financial barriers for patients, helping them afford life-saving medications and allowing providers to reinvest in expanded care.
But over time, that mission has been compromised. Large hospital systems, not bound by the same level of accountability, have taken advantage of the program’s lack of transparency. Well-funded hospitals can purchase drugs at steep discounts, bill patients or insurers full price, and pocket the difference. Meanwhile, the patients the program was created to help, especially in rural and low-income areas, are being left behind.
Read the full LTE in Penn Live here.