The Future of 340B: New Bills Offer Competing Solutions to Modernize the 340B Drug Discount Program

By The National Law Review

In recent weeks, two competing visions have emerged to legislatively modernize the federal 340B drug discount program (“340B Program”).

On July 6, 2026, Representatives Scott Peters (D-CA) and Dr. John Joyce (R-PA) introduced the bipartisan House bill H.R. 9599, called the SECURE 340B Act (or “the 340B House Bill”), hailed as “the first-ever comprehensive, bipartisan proposal to modernize the 340B Drug Pricing Program since its creation in 1992.” This follows on the heels of the Senate bill “340B Drug Pricing Integrity and Affordability for Patients Act” that was issued as a discussion draft (“340B Senate Discussion Draft”), released by Sen. Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on June 25, 2026. Cassidy’s 340B Senate Discussion Draft was touted as the first statutory update to the 340B Program in fifteen years.

The 340B Program requires manufacturers whose drugs are reimbursed under Medicaid to provide a discount on outpatient drugs to certain 340B covered entity categories of health care providers, including, but not limited to, certain types of hospitals and federal grantee clinics. Over the last several years, the statute has come under renewed scrutiny as stakeholders raise concerns about oversight, transparency, accountability, and statutory ambiguity surrounding the treatment of drugs dispensed through contract pharmacies.