The federal government should not change the 340B Drug Pricing Program from a discount program into a rebate model, the Alliance of Safety-Net Hospitals has told the federal Health Resources and Services Administration in response to the latter’s February proposal to institute a major change in the 340B program.

Safety-net providers, including community safety-net hospitals, rely on the savings they generate through the 340B program to underwrite critical services that their generally high-need, low-income communities need, ASH wrote in its letter to HRSA.  Changing the program in the manner proposed, ASH argued, would force 340B-eligible providers to scramble for the money to make upfront payments for prescription drugs and to hire more staff to administer such a program – potentially at the expense of employing caregivers and providing care.

HRSA should prioritize the needs of health care providers that serve especially large numbers of low-income patients over those of pharmaceutical companies, ASH argued in its letter, so HRSA should withdraw its proposal to turn the 340B program into a rebate model – something Congress never envisioned when it created 340B as a direct assistance program in 1992.

Learn more about ASH’s objections to the HRSA rebate model proposal from this letter from ASH to HRSA officials.