Articles by : Tom Mirga, Editor at Large

House Passes Bill to Limit Insulin Co-Pays, but the Way Forward in Senate Is Unclear

April 5, 2022 Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said last month "the Senate will vote on a bill to fix" the skyrocketing cost of insulin. The House last week passed a bill limiting cost-sharing for insulin.

The U.S. House passed a bill late last week limiting cost-sharing for insulin under private health insurance and Medicare Part D.

H.R. 6833 caps cost-sharing under private health insurance for a month’s supply of selected insulin products at $35 or

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340B Advocacy Group Expresses Concern About Apparent Unique Feature in J&J’s Contract Pharmacy Policy

March 31, 2022 Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views

Janssen Pharmaceutical companies of Johnson&Johnson outdoor sign

RWC-340B says Johnson & Johnson’s new conditions on 340B-purchased drugs when hospitals use contract pharmacies apparently applies also to hospitals’ non-340B-purchased “own use” drugs.

Drug manufacturer Johnson & Johnson’s new conditions on 340B-purchased drugs when hospitals use contract pharmacies apparently apply also to hospitals’ non-340B-purchased “own use” drugs, the group Ryan White Clinics for 340B Access has told its members.

J&J has not responded

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CMS Projects that Drug Spending and Drug Prices Will Keep Rising Through 2030

March 31, 2022 Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views

CMS predicts that U.S. retail prescription drug spending will grow 4.3% this year, with growth accelerating to 4.7% next year and to 5.1% in 2024.

Federal actuaries predict retail prescription drug spending in the United States will grow 4.3% this year, with growth accelerating to 4.7% next year and to 5.1% in 2024.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary

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Next Month’s 340B Registration Period Overlaps with Deadline for Hospitals Seeking Reinstatement

March 31, 2022 Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views

The Q2 2022 registration period for 340B overlaps with the April 14 deadline for hospitals that lost their 340B eligibility due to the COVID-19 public health emergency to file paperwork for reinstatement.

The next period for 340B registration of new covered entities, outpatient facilities, and contract pharmacies will begin tomorrow, April 1, and end on Friday, April 15.

Eligible hospitals, health centers, clinics, and their child sites and contract pharmacies registered during

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Conservative Massachusetts Think Tank Slams State’s 340B Hospitals over Charity Care and Calls for Reform

March 31, 2022 Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views

title page of Pioneer Institute white paper on 340B drug discounts

Charity care at five Massachusetts hospital groups declined at a time that 340B sales to the hospitals were rising, a new report by a conservative state think tank says. The state hospital association says the report distorts the 340B program.

Charity care has been declining significantly in some Massachusetts hospital systems, raising “a significant policy issue for the 340B program,” a free-market-oriented Massachusetts think tank whose donors include pharmaceutical manufacturers says in a new report.

The state hospital association said

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HRSA Refers Boehringer Ingelheim to HHS Inspector General over its 340B Contract Pharmacy Policy

March 29, 2022 Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views

Boehringer Ingelheim exterior sign and building

HRSA has referred Boehringer Ingelheim to the HHS Inspector General for possible imposition of civil monetary penalties over BI's conditions on 340B pricing when hospitals use contract pharmacies.

The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) today turned the screws tighter on Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) over its “continued failure to provide the 340B price to covered entities utilizing contract pharmacies.”

HRSA told BI in a March 29

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HRSA Invokes Contract Pharmacy Fight in Pitch for Comprehensive 340B Regulatory Power

March 29, 2022 Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views

Department of Health and Human Service budget title page

HRSA yesterday told Congress in its budget request that it needed comprehensive regulatory authority over the 340B program to resolve the dispute over the 340B contract pharmacy program.

Congress needs to give the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) comprehensive regulatory authority over the 340B program to resolve the dispute over the 340B contract pharmacy program, the Biden administration said yesterday in its proposed budget—although it did

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Arkansas Health Centers and Community Hospital Want Role in Challenging PhRMA’s Lawsuit Over State’s Novel 340B Contract Pharmacy Law

March 29, 2022 Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views

Mid Delta Health Center is a member of Community Health Centers of Arkansas, which wants to intervene in PhRMA's lawsuit challenging the state's one-of-a-kind law protecting 340B contract pharmacy arrangements.

Arkansas health centers asked a federal court yesterday to let them intervene in the drug industry lawsuit challenging the state’s one-of-a-kind law protecting 340B contract pharmacy arrangements.

Community Health Centers of Arkansas (CHCA) filed the motion yesterday along with

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BioComp Providing Refunds for 340B Overcharges Spanning a Whopping 8 Years

March 29, 2022 Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views

Following a HRSA audit, BioComp Pharma is offering 340B covered entities refunds on six products for overcharges spanning eight years.

Generic-drug manufacturer BioComp is offering covered entities refunds for lower 340B prices that it did not pay on six NDCs for periods over eight years, starting in Q3 2013 and ending in Q2 2021.

BioComp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of San

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Ryan White 340B Clinic Association Names New Managing Director

March 29, 2022 Tom Mirga Editor at Large Views

Trent Smith is the new Managing Director of Ryan White Clinics for 340B Access.

Ryan White Clinics for 340B Access (RWC-340B) and its management services consultant have chosen Trent Smith, a former manager and director in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors, to be RWC-340B’s new managing director.

RWC-340B announced the hiring last week.

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