Hospital groups’ decision to support letting Congress end the 340B contract pharmacy standoff could be the breakthrough the field has been waiting for, 340B Report Publisher and CEO Ted Slafsky writes in his latest column for Verity Solutions.
“National hospital groups have reversed course and now are actively lobbying Congress to pass legislation that would prohibit drug companies from limiting access to 340B discounts at contract pharmacies,” Slafsky writes. Their aversion to legislation, he said, “was a strategic mistake” that led to the National Association of Community Health Centers reaching a separate deal on 340B with Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, he said.
The hospital groups’ reluctance “was particularly puzzling,” Slafsky said. The court fight over 340B contract pharmacy could drag on for years and “the most draconian” policies apply to the groups’ own members, he noted. Slafsky said 340B hospitals have been reaching out to him “in despair” in growing numbers.
No bill has been introduced yet and getting one passed will be hard, Slafsky said. “Hospitals, in particular, will need to be prepared to make compromises,” he said. It may take time, but “it looks like there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
You can read the whole column here.
