After a nine-year delay, federal officials in April 2019 did as Congress ordered and began posting 340B ceiling prices on a secure website. For the first time, providers enrolled in the 340B program had a tool to help them make sure they were not being overcharged.
Providers and their allies “praise the database as an essential tool to help ensure pricing accuracy,” 340B Report Publisher and CEO Ted Slafsky says in his latest blog post for Omnicell. Drug manufacturers’ public notices about refunds for 340B overcharges are way up, he notes. Federal auditors are finding more evidence of 340B overcharges—a sign the government uses the new system to check for and act on pricing discrepancies.
The system also has been helpful for manufacturers, Slafsky said. A spokesperson for the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) told Slafsky that there has been “a significant reduction in allegations of incorrect 340B prices in the market” since the 340B pricing website went live three years ago.
Yet “while the ceiling price site has been welcomed, it has significant limitations,” Slafsky says. He lists a handful of ways he believes will make the site even better.
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