A new Roll Call article examines the intensifying debate over the future of the 340B Drug Pricing Program as lawmakers consider competing proposals and pharmaceutical manufacturers impose new restriction. ACH CEO Amanda Pears Kelly was interviewed for this story.

The article highlights several major developments, including bipartisan legislation from Reps. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) and John Joyce (R-Pa.), an anticipated Senate proposal and ongoing debate over contract pharmacies, patient definitions and rebate models. The Peters-Joyce bill would prohibit manufacturers from implementing rebate models for four years while establishing standards for contract pharmacy use.

ACH supports the Peters-Joyce proposal and continues to urge Congress to protect health centers’ access to the savings they rely on to provide affordable medications and sustain essential patient services.

ACH CEO Amanda Pears Kelly told Roll Call that the escalating conflict between hospitals and pharmaceutical manufacturers, and the lack of congressional consensus, has created damaging uncertainty for community health centers. That uncertainty comes as health centers are also preparing for Medicaid coverage and financing changes that could further strain their resources.

“In the meantime, we’re bleeding out and no one is doing anything,” Pears Kelly said.

For community health centers, 340B is not simply another federal policy debate. It is a lifeline that helps keep clinics open, medications affordable and critical services available in rural and underserved communities. Congress must act before continued uncertainty and manufacturer restrictions cause further harm to health centers and the patients who depend on them.