Reps. Miller-Meeks, Peters Lead 14 Bipartisan Members Calling for Continued Work on 340B Drug Pricing Reform
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks, MD (R-IA-1) and Scott Peters (D-CA-50) led a group of 14 bipartisan colleagues in a request to the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to advance bipartisan solutions to strengthen and reform the 340B Drug Discount Program. The 340B program was created by Congress in 1992 to help health care providers who deliver care and medicine to uninsured patients - such as federally funded hospitals and clinics - stretch scarce resources through access to discounted drugs. Since then, the program has grown substantially and well-documented reporting has raised questions about what safeguards exist to ensure savings received from the program are benefitting patients the program is meant to serve.
In their letter to the Chair and Ranking Member, the members state, “Together, we have tackled complex challenges, like pharmacy benefit manager reform and health care price transparency, with the shared goal of ensuring that patients and our communities have what they need to meet their health care demands. In that spirit, we write to urge you to also consider a bipartisan path forward on strengthening the 340B Drug Discount Program.”
They continued, “We are all committed to the long-term viability of the program, and we are encouraged that a bipartisan group of Senators has invested years seeking wide stakeholder input and developing a set of policy reforms aimed at achieving consensus. Appropriately, their work so far has recognized the need for Congress to step in and provide clarity while ensuring patient well-being remains at the center of the program. As Members of Congress interested in preserving the 340B program for vulnerable patients and their communities, we want to be prepared and make sure the House has considered the full range of issues that will be involved in such an undertaking.”
And they concluded, “As the conversations and court cases around the 340B program continue, we urge your leadership to ensure that the Committee continues to serve as a forum for bipartisan collaboration so that our Members, the Health Resources and Services Administration, patient groups, covered entities, manufacturers, and other stakeholders have an opportunity to be part of this important policy discussion.”
In addition to Reps. Peters and Miller-Meeks, the letter was signed by Reps. Barragán (D-CA-44), Carter (R-GA-1), Clarke (D-NY-9), Bucshon (R-IN-8), Levin (D-CA-49), Harshbarger (R-TN-1), Crockett (D-TX-30), Moore (R-UT-1), Garcia (D-TX-29), Johnson (R-SD-AL), Davis (D-NC-1), Morelle (D-NY-25), Gonzalez (D-TX-15), and Nickel (D-NC-13).
Read the full text of the letter here and below.
Dear colleagues:
We appreciate your bipartisan leadership of the House Energy & Commerce Committee on many critical health care issues this Congress. Together, we have tackled complex challenges, like pharmacy benefit manager reform and health care price transparency, with the shared goal of ensuring that patients and our communities have what they need to meet their health care demands. In that spirit, we write to urge you to also consider a bipartisan path forward on strengthening the 340B Drug Discount Program. Recent court decisions, like Genesis Health Care, Inc. v. Becerra and Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, further underscore the urgent need for congressional action.
In June, the Energy & Commerce Oversight Subcommittee held a hearing on the 340B program. During the hearing, Members voiced bipartisan agreement that Congress should ensure covered entities are using their savings from the 340B program appropriately, and that low-income patients are receiving the benefits of those savings.
Recent reporting reflects a growing possibility that we may soon see substantive efforts proposed to strengthen the 340B program. We are all committed to the long-term viability of the program, and we are encouraged that a bipartisan group of Senators has invested years seeking wide stakeholder input and developing a set of policy reforms aimed at achieving consensus. Appropriately, their work so far has recognized the need for Congress to step in and provide clarity while ensuring patient well-being remains at the center of the program. As Members of Congress interested in preserving the 340B program for vulnerable patients and their communities, we want to be prepared and make sure the House has considered the full range of issues that will be involved in such an undertaking.
As the conversations and court cases around the 340B program continue, we urge your leadership to ensure that the Committee continues to serve as a forum for bipartisan collaboration so that our Members, the Health Resources and Services Administration, patient groups, covered entities, manufacturers, and other stakeholders have an opportunity to be part of this important policy discussion.
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