AHA urges MedPAC to withdraw 340B payment proposal

The AHA today urged the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to withdraw its draft recommendation to reduce Part B drug payment rates to hospitals participating in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. “This recommendation is outside of the scope of MedPAC’s mission, lacks a clear purpose and penalizes certain hospitals for their ability to obtain discounts on the items and services they purchase,” wrote Ashley Thompson, AHA senior vice president for public policy analysis and development. “The AHA strongly urges MedPAC to withdraw this draft recommendation and, instead, to undertake an analysis of the trend of rapidly increasing drug prices, which presents the Medicare program and its beneficiaries with remarkable challenges.” MedPAC expects to vote on payment recommendations for fiscal year 2017 later this week.