One year ago, The Medicare Negotiation and Competitive Licensing Act was introduced to increase transparency and allow the government to negotiate drug pricing with manufacturers. Recently, the Senate Finance Committee introduced the Prescription Drug Pricing Reduction Act of 2019 to address the high costs of...

Medicare patients could save an estimated $150 million on out-of-pocket co-payments for clinic visits if proposed changes to the hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Cancer (ASC) payment system are supported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for 2019. The...

In June, the Director of HRSA’s Office of Pharmacy Affairs, Captain Krista Pedley, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee On Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. In her testimony, she stated, “Specific legislative authority to conduct rulemaking for all provisions in the 340B statute would be...

In 2015, the 340B Drug Discount Program saved healthcare providers $6 billion on drug acquisition costs. While the program aims to make pharmaceutical and clinical care affordable and accessible to low-income patients; there is evidence that some participating entities are exploiting its discounts for profit. Since close...

The 340B drug discount program helps disproportionate share hospitals (DSHs) to serve low-income patients. The stated objective of the 340B drug discount program is to “stretch federal resources as far as possible reaching more eligible patients and providing more comprehensive services.” Over time the program...

The future of the 340B drug discount program is in jeopardy as the ongoing debate over the program intensifies. Initially, this program aimed to serve low-income patients with access to medications by requiring pharmaceutical companies to discount their drugs for providers. However, in recent years...

A recent report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine shows that the need for effective and affordable medicines is being underserved by the biopharmaceutical sector. The report is composed of eight (8) recommendations and twenty-seven (27) strategies aimed to improve prescription drug...