The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee has continued to hold hearings to consider possible changes to the 340B drug pricing program. Such changes would be aimed at improving transparency and oversight by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA).
The HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) continues to seek input on possible changes to the program with a focus to provide more effective oversight. Recently, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) reported that HRSA has not clarified guidance on the definition of eligible patients or specificity on the hospital eligibility criteria since first advised by the GAO in 2012. The Trump administration has also called for substantial changes to the program.
The association, working together with the American Hospital Association (AHA) and others, is actively working to share with members of Congress the stories and examples of positive impacts made in communities throughout the state and nation resulting from the program.
In related activity, the AHA and other litigants await the judicial decision on the lawsuit with the Department of Health & Human Services on the legality of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services changes to the 340B program that became effective in January. A decision is anticipated later this summer.
