Arlington, VA-The American Consumer Institute (ACI) submitted public comments to the Senate HELP Committee endorsing the 340B Drug Pricing Integrity and Affordability for Patients Act, calling it “a substantial improvement” over the current system. In testimony authored by Senior Policy Analyst Justin Leventhal, ACI praised the draft’s provisions strengthening incentives to pass discounts to patients, improving transparency, limiting the expansion of contract pharmacies and hospital child sites, and curbing excessive fees collected by third-party administrators, reforms ACI says are overdue given that covered entities purchased $81.4 billion in discounted drugs in 2024 with little standardized reporting on how those savings are used.
However, ACI urged lawmakers to strengthen the bill further by closing a loophole that would let fully insured, financially secure patients still qualify for 340B discounts, and by extending eligibility to Rural Emergency Hospitals, which serve communities with higher poverty and uninsured rates. “Congress should strengthen it by requiring proof that patients both need and receive benefits and extend eligibility to Rural Emergency Hospitals,” Leventhal wrote.
Read ACI’s comments here.
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The American Consumer Institute is a nonprofit education and research organization.