January 11, 2018      5:56 PM

Patt, Page: Support bipartisan fixes to the 340B Drug Discount Program

Some Texas doctors argue in favor of a first step toward fixing the drug discount program

Roughly twenty-five years ago, Congress created a program, the 340B Drug Discount Program, to help safety-net clinics and community health centers improve the health of needy communities throughout the country. Unfortunately, some bad actors are taking advantage of the program for their own benefit while communities, including here in Texas, are suffering. Indiana Representative and doctor Larry Bucshon (R-IN-08) and California Representative Scott Peters (D-CA-52) recently introduced legislation, the 340B Protecting Access to Underserved and Safety-Net Entities Act (Pause), which is a great first step to provide much needed fixes to the program.

For those who aren’t familiar with the 340B Drug Discount Program, it requires the drug manufacturers to sell their medicines to eligible organizations at steep discounts but allows heath care organizations to sell the prescriptions at full price. It started out as a well-intentioned program but some organizations are using it to drive profits instead of help patients.

The complete guest column by Dr. Debra Patt and dr. Ray Page is in the R&D Department.

By Debra Patt and Ray Page

Copyright January 11, 2018, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved