Advocacy

When Congress created the 340B program in 1992, SNHPA took the lead role in ensuring that hospitals were included in the program. Since then, SNHPA has monitored, educated, and served as an advocate on federal legislative and regulatory issues related to drug pricing and other pharmacy matters affecting safety-net providers.  SNHPA’s member hospitals serve most of our nation’s indigent and uninsured patients and must have a significantly high percentage of low income patients to be eligible for the program.

	"Without access to the 340B drug discount program, we would be severely limited in our ability to provide care for uninsured and underinsured individuals at this level. The loss of the 340B benefit would result in a complete change in the provision of the pharmacy services at JHSMH and the loss of programs that greatly serve our community and state." - Mark Milburn, Director Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s Healthcare Louisville, KY

Key Advocacy Priorities:

1. Extend 340B discounts to hospital inpatient settings which would significantly reduce costs and remove administrative burdens.
2. Advocate for adequate reimbursement from Medicaid, Medicare and third party payers.
3. Address efforts to significantly narrow the scope of the 340B program.
4. Address problems in accessing pharmaceuticals at federally required 340B-discounted pricing.
5. Repeal the provision that prohibits rural and free standing cancer hospitals from accessing discounts on very expensive drugs known as, “Orphan Drugs.”
6. Advocate for implementation of provisions to improve program oversight, administration, and compliance, recover 340B overpayments and make 340B prices easier to verify.
7. Educate hospitals and states about exemption from mandate to collect rebates on drugs administered by health professionals in hospital outpatient settings.

	"340B is critical to continued operations of our outpatient pharmacies. The Grady Health system provides more than 625,000 prescriptions a year to uninsured patients." - Val Hallman, Director of Pharmacy Administration Grady Health System Atlanta, GA

If you have questions, please contact SNHPA Director of Government Relations Kara Stencel at kara.stencel@snhpa.org or 202-552-5852 or SNHPA Policy and Advocacy Manager Kathryn DiBitetto at kathryn.dibitetto@snhpa.org or 202-552-5855.