The National Consumers League (NCL) continues to urge Congress to advance patient-centered reforms of the 340B Drug Pricing Program. The program allows eligible hospitals and clinics to purchase outpatient medications at discounted prices to ensure patients have access to affordable treatments. Unfortunately, 340B drug discounts are not being passed on to those who need them most. Instead, many hospitals, the pharmacies they contract with, and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are exploiting the program for profit at the expense of patients.

New York’s largest hospital is a case in point.  Northwell Health, serving Westchester, Long Island and NYC, is a 340B hospital system that’s been operating since 2007. Norwell spent $3 million on naming rights for a Long Island concert venue while reporting charity care at just 1.6 percent of operating expenses in 2022. Northwell Health is also expanding into entertainment ventures, raising serious questions about whether savings meant for patients are being diverted elsewhere.

Voters across the country agree that it’s time for a fix. In May, NCL released results from a national poll of more than 20,000 American adults, revealing overwhelming concern about the burden of medical debt and strong public demand for comprehensive reforms of 340B. More than three in four surveyed adults (77%) believe hospitals should be required to pass 340B savings directly onto patients.

NCL CEO Sally Greenberg reiterated the urgent need for transparency and accountability in an April opinion article in RealClearHealth. “If Washington is serious about cutting waste and protecting American consumers, let’s start with the well-intentioned but off-kilter 340B program. It must not continue to be a financial windfall for hospitals, pharmacies, and middlemen while leaving patients behind.”

The good news is that Congress is taking notice. The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee held an October hearing to evaluate the growth of the program and its impact on patients. During the hearing, Senators cited the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) findings that the 340B program’s design incentivizes prescribing higher-cost drugs, fuels hospital consolidation, and pushes expansion of hospital-affiliated clinics — all of which, according to the report, tend to increase federal spending.

NCL supports federal reforms that bring more transparency, accountability, and oversight to the 340B Drug Pricing Program to ensure the program serves low-income, uninsured and otherwise vulnerable patients, not profits.

For more information on the 340B program, visit nclnet.org/340b-program.