New financial and administrative burdens could force community health centers to reduce services in rural and underserved communities.
WASHINGTON — In response to today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services of a new rebate model for the 340B Drug Pricing Program set to begin on January 1, 2027, Advocates for Community Health (ACH) CEO Amanda Pears Kelly issued the following statement:
“The rebate model announced today poses a serious threat to community health centers and the millions of patients who rely on them. This is not simply an administrative change. It could destabilize safety-net providers, restrict access to affordable medications, and force health centers to scale back essential services.
“Community health centers use 340B savings exactly as Congress intended, reinvesting them directly into care for patients in rural and underserved communities. The rebate model announced today threatens that work by forcing health centers to absorb higher upfront drug costs, take on new administrative burdens, and wait to recover savings they currently receive at the point of purchase.
“This approach shifts financial and operational risk away from large, profitable pharmaceutical manufacturers and onto financially vulnerable safety-net providers. Federally qualified health centers should not be required to finance a rebate system or put essential patient services at risk while waiting to recover critical savings.
“For health centers operating on narrow margins, these delays and added costs could have immediate consequences. Every dollar tied up in the rebate process is a dollar unavailable for affordable medications, behavioral health services, maternal care, rural health programs, mobile clinics, and comprehensive primary care.
“Health centers are not the source of the concerns this model is intended to address. They account for just 6% of the total 340B spending, yet their patients and communities will still bear the consequences. At a time of rising costs, workforce shortages, and growing demand for care, the federal government should be strengthening the health care safety net, not creating new financial and administrative barriers.
“Congress must act immediately before implementation to delay the rebate model and protect health centers and the patients they serve. Any 340B reform should preserve timely access to savings and ensure health centers can continue investing those resources in the communities that rely on them.”
###
About Advocates for Community Health
Established in 2021, Advocates for Community Health (ACH) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization of community health centers dedicated to forward-thinking and ambitious federal policy and advocacy on behalf of health centers, their patients, and their communities. To learn more, visit advocatesforcommunityhealth.org.