The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held an Oct. 23 hearing, “The 340B Program: Examining Its Growth and Impact on Patients,” for which the AAMC submitted a statement for the record underscoring the critical importance of the 340B Drug Pricing Program (PDF) in supporting academic health systems and teaching hospitals’ ability to care for low-income patients and communities. The AAMC’s statement also challenged claims included in a recent Congressional Budget Office report, arguing that the report overstates 340B program growth and relies upon several flawed assumptions in drawing its conclusions.
The hearing’s witnesses included: Michelle Rosenberg, MPH, director of health care for the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Aditi Sen, PhD, chief of the health policy studies unit for the Congressional Budget Office, and William Feldman, MD, DPhil, MPH, a physician and health policy researcher at UCLA Health. In their testimony, the witnesses discussed recent drivers of 340B program growth, gaps in the Health Resources and Services Administration’s oversight of the program, and whether and how the program incentivizes certain behaviors by hospitals.
In his opening statement, Chair Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.) asserted that while the 340B program is “well-intentioned,” it remains unclear whether providers are using their savings to benefit low-income patients and that the program may also incentivize behaviors that drive up costs in the health care system. Cassidy also referenced findings from his recent investigation into the 340B program, which compiled information from hospitals, federally qualified health centers, contract pharmacies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers [refer to Washington Highlights, April 25]. In her opening statement, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) — sitting in for Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in his absence — discussed the importance of supporting 340B in light of significant cuts to Medicaid included in the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21, PDF). Baldwin also discussed an ongoing bipartisan effort by the Senate “Gang of Six” to legislatively reform the program, which the AAMC has previously commented on [refer to Washington Highlights, April 5, 2024].