The pharmaceutical industry’s lobbying giant, PhRMA, saw Republicans’ willingness to touch major health care programs like Medicaid. Now, they want them to make cuts to the program that lets some hospitals get discounts on drugs.
PhRMA is launching a seven-figure ad campaign pushing for Congress to change 340B, which allows some health care providers to get drugs at a steep discount from manufacturers participating in Medicaid — its biggest ad campaign on the program yet. Taxpayers don’t directly pay for the 340B program, which is the second-largest prescription drug program administered by the federal government.
Drugmakers have long hated the program, arguing that hospitals don’t pass on the savings to patients. Hospitals say the program allows them to cover the most needy in their communities, and even keep their doors open. To help care for low-income and uninsured patients, the program allows eligible providers to keep the difference between the discounted drug and the amount patients’ insurers reimburse for those drugs at the nondiscounted price.