The AAMC submitted a letter on Oct. 30 supporting the 340B Drug Pricing Program in response to a request for feedback from Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Greg Walden (R-Ore.) [see Washington Highlights, Oct. 16].
In the letter, AAMC Chief Public Policy Officer Karen Fisher, JD, highlighted the importance of the 340B program to providers and their patients and expressed serious concerns about recent actions taken by pharmaceutical manufacturers to undermine the 340B program by refusing to provide 340B pricing to hospitals for eligible drugs dispensed through community pharmacies [see Washington Highlights, Sept. 18].
“We believe the program works well to help safety-net hospitals provide vulnerable patients and communities with access to critical health care services and that no legislative changes are needed,” Fisher stated. “However, we continue to urge Congress to use its oversight function to ensure that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) uses its authority to require that pharmaceutical manufacturers comply with current law.”