Abuse in the 340B Program

The 340B program was designed to help safety-net hospitals serve vulnerable patients with drug discounts, but it’s not always working as intended. Pharmaceutical companies are required to sell medicines at deeply discounted prices to certain healthcare providers. Unfortunately, the program does not require the providers to pass these discounts onto their patients. Instead, some hospitals use 340B to inflate their profit margins and continue to bill patients at markups. Hospital systems also use 340B profits to expand to smaller, independent practices that don’t qualify for the programs. Our Health Equity advocates for large-scale reforms to the 340B program that ensure patients have access to the medicine they need at a reasonable price. Read more here.