Posted On: March 24, 2025 by Community HealthCare System in: Community health news News
The 340B Drug Pricing Program was created by the federal government and requires drug manufacturers to provide eligible hospitals medications for significantly reduced prices. Not every hospital is eligible and not every medication has a lower 340B price. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has established rules to ensure that eligible hospitals are serving patients in need. Each year documentation is required to prove continued eligibility. Community HealthCare System (CHCS) is a 340B eligible covered entity because we are a Critical Access Hospital serving a rural population. Medications that have the best, i.e. the lowest, 340B price are medications that have seen the largest increase in costs in the previous quarter. The 340B price is meant to act as a deterrent to the pharmaceutical industry from excessively raising prices and putting profits ahead of patient’s health and safety. If the price of their medication goes down, then the 340B discount goes away. In this way, the 340B program helps reduce the cost of medications for everyone, because drug manufacturers HATE offering the 340B discount. CHCS uses our savings on 340B medications to offset the costs of uncompensated care and bad debt, helping us keep our doors open and provide access to care for our patients.
For the fiscal year ending 3/31/2024, CHCS absorbed $971,537 of uncompensated care/bad debt and generated $520,469 in 340B savings. With so many hospitals in Kansas at risk for closure, the 340B program is essential to helping CHCS continue to provide high quality care to the patients we serve.
Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing information about the 340B program. We need our associates and community members to understand how vital the 340B Drug Pricing Program is to CHCS as the program is constantly under attack from pharmaceutical companies.
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