Cassidy bill would rein in 340B drug discount program
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate health committee, introduced a bill to restrict the 340B federal drug discount program, which the article describes as lucrative for nonprofit hospitals.
- The bill arrives as hospitals face revenue pressure from a Republican tax bill passed last summer that significantly reduced the federal share of Medicaid costs and is expected to shrink Medicaid enrollment.
- Hospitals also face the prospect of site-neutral payments legislation that would lower hospital payments to the levels charged by doctor offices.
- The 340B program has drawn growing scrutiny and could be targeted in future legislation aimed at lowering health care spending.
- Cassidy has been investigating 340B for years, including an inquiry into the contractor that serves as the program's government vendor and a Senate hearing held in October.
Why it matters: Cassidy's bill targets a program the article calls lucrative for hospitals at the moment they're absorbing Medicaid funding cuts from last summer's tax bill and bracing for potential site-neutral payment legislation — putting 340B squarely on the list of health care cost-cutting targets in upcoming Congress.
