AHA Stat Blog: Report misses mark on 340B program

The latest report from a group financed and backed by the pharmaceutical industry “continues to misrepresent” the 340B Drug Pricing Program and its “successful 25-year history of helping hospitals stretch scarce financial resources to expand and improve access to lifesaving prescription drugs and comprehensive health services,” AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels writes today in an AHA Stat blog post. Nickels says the report “attempts to mislead the debate by comparing changes in the ‘charity care’ provided by a small sample size of 160 disproportionate share hospitals (out of 2,448 hospitals) that participate in the 340B program,” and he highlights the many benefits 340B hospitals provide to the patients and communities they serve. "We hope policymakers won’t be diverted by this self-serving report from the important job of finding solutions to bring down the exorbitant cost of many prescription drugs that is threatening the availability of life-saving medications for millions of Americans,” Nickels writes.