New 340B Drug Discount Crackdown Gets Bipartisan Bill In House
By Bloomberg Law
Bipartisan House members released legislation Monday focused on a major drug discount program that would put significant new requirements in place for hospitals.
The new bill, shared first with Bloomberg Government, would establish eligibility requirements for the patients who can receive discounted drugs as part of the 340B program, as well as implement standards for the facilities that are affiliated with the primary safety-net providers and distribute the discounted drugs.
Sponsored by multiple members if the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and led by Reps. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and John Joyce (R-Pa.), the measure is a sign of growing momentum in Congress to curtail the policy as both parties search for answers to the affordability crisis.
"The SECURE 340B Act closes the loopholes that have allowed the program to drift from its mission, stops the legal chaos that plagues the program today, and puts in place the kind of transparency and accountability that will keep 340B strong for decades to come," Peters said in a statement accompanying the bill's release.
Other bill co-sponsors include Reps. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.). The group said the legislation is the "first-ever comprehensive, bipartisan proposal to modernize the 340B drug pricing program since its creation in 1992," in the release.
The provider industry is already gearing up to fight new directives, with hospital lobbyists saying submitting detailed data is a burdensome requirement on safety-net facilities. When Senate Health Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) released his own drug discount draft discussion bill in June, the American Hospital Association slammed its new requirements and pointed the finger at drugmakers as the problem.
Pharmaceutical companies and hospitals have been fighting over the drug discount program for years, and drugmakers have been trying to implement rebate systems or other controls over how many discounted drugs are provided as the program has grown. Eli Lilly recently implemented a new policy requiring facilities to submit claims-level data and cut off discount pricing for those who didn't comply.
The house bill would require hospitals to share data on the number of 340B drugs prescribed and the charity care provided, including in a new data clearinghouse that would be established to check if duplicate discounts are going out.
While the bill primarily focuses on healthcare providers who participate in the 340B program, pharmaceutical manufacturers may also push back on the bill, since it would suspend any 340B rebate programs for four years while the data clearinghouse is established.