REPORT: 340B PROGRAM HELPS HOSPITALS SERVE THE POOR, MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER, STUDY FINDS

REPORT: 340B PROGRAM HELPS HOSPITALS SERVE THE POOR, MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER, STUDY FINDS

This new report provides results from a survey of members of the trade association 340B Health and includes responses from disproportionate share (DSH) hospitals, critical access hospitals, children’s hospitals, sole community hospitals and rural referral centers.

Respondents report that they use 340B drug discount program savings to expand patient access to medicines and improve pharmacy services in numerous ways*:

- 77 percent say 340B enhances their ability to serve the uninsured or underinsured
- 71 percent say it increases their ability to provide free/discounted drugs to low-income patients
- 65 percent say it funds patient counseling
- 62 percent say it funds hospital readmission-reduction programs
- 60 percent say it funds medication therapy management

The pharmaceutical industry is lobbying Congress and the Obama administration to curtail the program by limiting hospital and patient eligibility. The survey makes clear that such a policy would have devastating repercussions in communities across America. Respondents report that without 340B savings*:

- 78 percent say drug costs would increase for the underinsured and uninsured
- 71 percent predict reductions to pharmacy services
- 40 percent predict closure of one or more clinics
- 28 percent foresee reduced on-site dispensing services

Despite overall reductions in the number of uninsured through the ACA, 93 percent of hospitals say that the 340B program is more important now than it was five years ago. Why? They are seeing far more underinsured patients who cannot afford high co-pays and deductibles. Seventy-eight percent of respondents reported an increase in the number of underinsured. Hospitals also report seeing high numbers of uninsured patients even as the national figure has dropped to about 30 million.

For more information, visit www.340bhealth.org