The soaring cost of prescription drugs threatens access to life-saving medications for millions of people across the country and thousands of Hoosiers here at home. For these vulnerable patients, safety net health care providers — supported by the 340B Drug Pricing Program — make all the difference. Established in 1992, the 340B program requires pharmaceutical…
The debate over the future of the 340B drug pricing program has reached a critical new phase. Several members of Congress introduced legislation that would make dramatic changes in the 26-year-old statute, Congress is holding hearings on the program and the Trump administration has offered new proposals in its fiscal 2019 budget. Some have questioned…
Two things are true now, more than ever before: health care is expensive and prescription drug prices are sky-high. Indiana residents — especially those in rural areas, who have to travel long distances for a doctor — are struggling to seek treatment and afford medication. This is why the little-known 340B Drug Pricing Program has…
For 25 years, a highly effective but little-known program created by Congress—the 340B Drug Pricing Program—has allowed health care providers at safety-net hospitals such as ours, UC San Diego Health, to enhance and strengthen the care we provide to our communities and especially to vulnerable patients—all at no cost to taxpayers. This is because the…
For 25 years, the 340B Drug Pricing Program has made a difference in the lives of millions of Americans. The relatively unknown program, started in 1992, reduces the cost of drugs for many hospitals and providers who serve low-income, underinsured or uninsured patients. It was simple: Drug manufacturers discounted outpatient drugs for these entities in…
Citing dropping federal reimbursements, North Mississippi Medical Center will end its school nurse program this year. After the 2017-18 school year ends, the 15 area schools served by 11 NMMC nurses will have to make other arrangements. “We were faced with some difficult decisions, which have led to the scaling back or discontinuation of some…
Americans in every state face health care challenges every day, but those challenges are particularly acute in rural areas. In fact, access to doctors and medical treatment is one of the most critical issues facing rural and agricultural communities today, where residents deal with numerous complications that their more urban counterparts do not. This is…
Now more than ever, we need to examine all approaches to connecting our vulnerable children, families and seniors living in Oregon’s rural communities with healthcare. We need to be acutely aware of all the options and support services available to ensure these neighbors have access to critical, affordable care. Places like Coos County deserve healthcare…
Drive any stretch of highway in North Dakota, and one is struck by the beauty of this state. Still, the freedom we feel when we travel our endless prairies reveals a stark truth: North Dakota has a health care access problem. It’s certainly no secret that we live in a rural state–the miles between our…
Now that a U.S. District Court has postponed the hospital industry’s legal challenge to cutbacks in the 340B drug discount program, it falls to Congress to reverse the Trump administration’s egregious new rules. Believe it or not, there’s hope, since the new rules benefit no one—quite literally. Legislation reversing them has even gained bipartisan backing…