MATSUI INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO PROTECT 340B DRUG PRICING PROGRAM

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) introduced the 340B PATIENTS Act, legislation that would protect and strengthen the 340B program by codifying 340B providers’ ability to use contract pharmacies to dispense 340B discounted drugs. This would ensure that 340B patients are able to pick up their prescriptions at any local pharmacy, and that safety-net providers are able to continue providing expanded medical and social services to their communities using their 340B discount savings.

“For more than 30 years, the 340B program has been a lifeline for our nation’s most vulnerable patients – providing free or discounted prescription drugs and important safety-net services at no cost to taxpayers,” said Congresswoman Matsui. “Unfortunately, Big Pharma is directly undercutting this mission. More and more pharmaceutical companies are denying access to 340B pricing for drugs that are dispensed through community or specialty pharmacies. For underserved populations and low-income Americans relying on the services provided by the 340B program – this loss of access is devastating. The 340B Patients Act sets clear ground rules to prevent manufacturers from continuing these practices and strengthen the 340B program for years to come.”

Under the 340B program, drug manufacturers agree to provide outpatient drugs at a discount to safety-net providers that serve our most vulnerable Americans, including low-income Medicare, Medicaid and Supplemental Security Insurance patients. These providers include Medicare disproportionate share (“DSH”) hospitals, children’s hospitals, free-standing cancer hospitals, and rural hospitals. Providers use the savings from the 340B program to stretch federal resources further, providing critical services to underserved communities without any additional federal spending.

Many 340B providers use contract pharmacies to provide the widest possible range of services to their patients. However, since 2020, drug manufacturers have started denying or restricting access to 340B discount prices for drugs dispensed through contract pharmacies.

Specifically, this legislation would:

• Clarify that manufacturers are required to offer 340B discount prices to covered entities regardless of the manner or location in which a drug is dispensed, including if a covered entity uses a contract pharmacy to dispense 340B drugs to the entity’s patients.
• Ensure that manufacturers cannot place conditions on the ability of a covered entity to purchase and use 340B drugs, regardless of the manner or location in which the drug is dispensed, including through contract pharmacies.
• Impose civil monetary penalties on manufacturers that violate these statutory requirements and prohibitions.

Full text of the bill is available HERE.

Endorsing organizations: 340B Health, America’s Essential Hospitals, American Hospital Association, Advocates for Community Health, Ryan White Clinics for 340B Access (RWC340B), 340B Hallway, National Rural Health Association, Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Catholic Health Association, Children’s Hospital Association, 340B Matters, ASHP, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, University of California Health, California Hospital Association.

“On behalf of the safety-net hospitals participating in 340B, I applaud Congresswoman Matsui for being a steadfast champion of 340B and the millions of patients whose lives and health are better because of it,” said Maureen Testoni, President and CEO, 340B Health. “340B hospitals play a vital role in the health care safety net, delivering 77% of Medicaid hospital care, providing 67% of the nation’s unpaid care, and offering comprehensive specialty services that otherwise might not be available. This crucial legislation would end harmful drug company restrictions on 340B savings that are vital for expanding health care and support for patients in need. Drugmakers have stripped billions of dollars from the health care safety net with the single goal of boosting their profits, and we have measured the cost of these actions in the form of harm to patient care. This bill states clearly and unequivocally that this drug company behavior must stop. We call on lawmakers and congressional leaders to support this vital legislation.”

“The AHA thanks Representative Matsui for her longstanding leadership of protecting the 340B drug pricing program and the patients and communities that benefit from it. This important bill would put an end to pervasive drug company restrictions on the use of contract or community pharmacy arrangements in 340B, which make it harder for many underserved patients to get vital medicines,” said Lisa Kidder Hrobsky, Senior Vice President, Federal Relations, Advocacy, and Political Affairs at the AHA. “While we believe that the existing 340B statute already makes the drug company restrictions unlawful, this new bill makes it even clearer. The AHA strongly endorses this bill and looks forward to helping move it forward.”

“The 340B PATIENTS Act will help ensure patients have access to high-quality, comprehensive care from their provider or pharmacy of choice by enforcing manufacturer compliance with the 340B Drug Pricing Program,” said ASHP CEO Paul W. Abramowitz, PharmD, ScD (Hon), FASHP. “ASHP is proud to support the 340B PATIENTS Act.”

Congresswoman Matsui has long led efforts to support the 340B Program. In May 2021, she introduced a bipartisan bill to provide temporary waivers for certain 340B program eligibility requirements due to the COVID-19 health emergency. She has also led a series of letters highlighting the issues addressed by this legislation, most recently in March 2021.

# # #