Over 225 members of the House of Representatives joined a bipartisan letter on Feb. 26 urging Health and Human Services (HHS) Acting Secretary Norris Cochran to protect the 340B Drug Pricing Program by taking actions to ensure that drug manufacturers are prohibited from imposing unilateral changes to the program.
The letter was led by Reps. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), David McKinley (R-W.Va.), Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.), Cynthia Axne (D-Iowa), and John Katko (R-N.Y.). It highlights recent actions taken by manufacturers to undermine the program, including a refusal to sell eligible drugs to hospitals at 340B prices when the drugs are distributed by community-based pharmacies and an effort to change how 340B rebates are processed.
The letter specifically calls on HHS to:
- Assess civil monetary penalties on manufacturers that deny 340B pricing to eligible covered entities.
- Require drug manufacturers to provide refunds to covered entities for the savings that have been withheld since 2020.
- Prevent any attempts by drug manufacturers to change 340B discounts from an upfront discount to a post-sales rebate.
- Immediately seat the Administrative Dispute Resolution panel to process disputes within the program.
Members of the House and Senate sent similar bipartisan letters to HHS Secretary Alex Azar in late 2020 [see Washington Highlights, Sept. 18 and Nov. 13].