On July 6, a bipartisan group of five lawmakers, led by Reps. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and John Joyce (R-Pa.), unveiled the Strengthening the Exercise of Controls and Upgrading Requirements for Efficiency in (SECURE) 340B Act (H.R. 9599). The 142-page bill (PDF) seeks to overhaul the 340B Drug Pricing Program by temporarily pausing the administration’s 340B rebate model, introducing a new definition of a 340B-eligible patient, clarifying covered entities’ ability to use contract pharmacy arrangements, and introducing new restrictions on the use of child sites, among other policy provisions.
This proposal is one of several circulating in Congress to update and reform the program. In June, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chair Bill Cassidy, MD (R-La.) released his own draft legislation, the 340B for Patients Act, which addresses many of the same issues as the House proposal, but would allow for the continued use of rebate models in the program [refer to Washington Highlights, June 26].