martes, 3 de diciembre de 2019

340B hospitals to HHS: Go away

D.C. Diagnosis
Nicholas Florko

340B hospitals to HHS: Go away 

The trade group 340B Health, which represents hospitals that participate in that federal drug discount program, is out with some fiery opposition to a pretty modest HHS proposal for a survey about the program. 

In newly filed comments, 340B Health says the idea would be “incredibly burdensome” and require hospitals to do “extensive mathematical calculations.” Yes, in our vexingly complicated drug pricing system, even a survey of what prices hospitals pay for certain drugs is met with resistance.

I was pretty shocked to see such a strong position from the these hospitals, especially since they’ve been chided by members of Congress and drug makers for supposedly being overly secretive about how they use the 340B program. 

These hospitals aren’t just miffed over paperwork though: 340B Health makes clear they oppose the survey because it’s part of HHS’s effort to drastically cut how much hospitals are reimbursed by the federal government for these drugs. 340B Health and HHS have been locked in a legal battle over this larger issue for more than two years. (More on that, here.) 

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