ACH’s SVP of Policy & Government Affairs Stephanie Krenrich was featured in this article today on the 340B Rebate Model from Bridget Early at Modern Healthcare:
“Drugmakers are upping their demands for transparency in the 340B Drug Pricing Program by imposing new requirements that have sparked ire among safety-net providers,” reports Bridget Early. “Novo Nordisk issued a notice to hospitals and other 340B participants on Monday saying providers will be required to submit comprehensive claims-level data in order to receive discounts on medications starting April 1. A similar Eli Lilly policy took effect last month.”
“It is hard to read this development as anything but the latest step in pharma’s effort to undermine this program that funds safety-net healthcare,” Stephanie Krenrich, senior vice president of policy and government affairs for the community health center association Advocates for Community Health, wrote in an email.
The article further states that “Qualifying safety-net providers get 25%-50% discounts on prescription medications under 340B, and participants stress that these price cuts are vital to their finances. But the number of providers utilizing 340B and the value of the drug discounts has ballooned over time. Drugmakers contend that too many providers are allowed in the program and that they often get price cuts on medicines already discounted under Medicaid or other programs.
Notably, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are applying the new reporting requirements to contract pharmacies and in-house pharmacies, which previously were exempt.
Program oversight is HRSA’s responsibility, not the drug industry’s, the American Hospital Association and Advocates for Community Health maintain. Moreover, providers contend, these drugmakers’ new reporting requirements are unlawful.”