STAT+: Hospitals sue – again – to halt Trump administration’s 340B rebate pilot — SkimNews
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- American Hospital Association filed a second lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration's 340B rebate pilot, which would convert upfront drug discounts into after-the-fact rebates
- HHS announced the expanded pilot in February, targeting 25 of the costliest, most widely used Medicare drugs—up from 10 in the original version—with an effective date of January 1, 2027
- In the first lawsuit filed in 2025, a judge temporarily halted a more limited version of the plan and HHS voluntarily withdrew it after losing on appeal
- AHA's core argument mirrors its prior case: the government failed to accurately account for hospitals' costs of paying market prices upfront before applying for rebates
- The Health Resources and Services Administration received more than 2,400 comments on the second iteration, with hospitals describing in "granular detail the catastrophic impact" the model would have, per the lawsuit
Why it matters: Hospitals argue the government's cost projections miss the working-capital burden of paying full market price upfront and then seeking rebates later—if courts don't intervene before January 1, 2027, safety-net providers participating in 340B face delayed reimbursement for 25 high-cost Medicare drugs they currently get at discount.
Ask SkimNews
