The 340B Drug Pricing Program gives discounts to qualifying hospitals and healthcare entities for certain prescription drugs so that those savings can help low-income and uninsured patients. Patients in Michigan with conditions like cancer, HIV, and autoimmune diseases depend on this federal program to access affordable healthcare at 340B facilities. However, the data shows that some facilities are using the 340B program for profit instead of helping patients in need. Unfortunately, the 340B program lacks the level of oversight and transparency needed to ensure it is operating the way Congress intended it to.
Tell Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel: Increase Transparency of 340B to Protect Vulnerable Patients in Michigan.
Send a letter to your State Attorney General RIGHT NOW to urge them to bring greater transparency to the federal 340B Program. The money that qualifying 340B entities save through the program should be reinvested in serving eligible patients - not in growing hospital profits. Ask your State Attorney General to ensure that 340B savings are applied to care for America's most vulnerable patient populations.
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Dear Dana Nessel,
I am writing to bring attention to abuses surrounding the 340B Drug Pricing Program and ask for your help in protecting Michigan patients– like our family members, friends, and neighbors – who deserve access to critical medical care. The federal 340B program was designed to help low-income and uninsured patients access the care and medications they need to manage conditions such as cancer, HIV, and autoimmune diseases. Unfortunately, the 340B program today lacks sufficient oversight and transparency to ensure that savings from reduced drug prices are actually being passed to patients who need them.
The 340B Program allows qualifying hospitals and clinics to purchase prescription drugs at a significant discount, with the intent that those facilities use the savings to care for more qualifying patients. Unfortunately, without any legal or regulatory obligation to report how the savings are being used, there is no way of knowing if patients are actually benefiting from those drug discounts. Today, evidence suggests that qualifying hospitals may be abusing the 340B program and harming patients in the process.
340B program sales grew over 400% from 2012 to 2019 without a proportionate decrease in patient out-of-pocket costs, indicating that 340B hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies are profiting at the expense of patients.
Congress meant for 340B to expand treatment access for vulnerable, low-income patients, not to increase profits for hospitals and clinics. I urge you to take action to bring greater oversight and transparency to the 340B Drug Pricing Program to ensure patients in Michigan are actually benefiting. Please act to ensure hospitals in the program are being held accountable for passing prescription drug discounts on to patients who rely on critical care to maintain their health.
Thank you for your leadership to protect citizens in our great state and your attention to this critical patient issue.
Sincerely,
[your name]
