January 20, 2015—Lawmakers have reintroduced bills in the U.S. Senate to require the federal government to negotiate Medicare Part D drug prices and to let Americans import prescription drugs from Canada for personal use. [ms-protect-content id="2799"] Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is the chief sponsor of the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act, S. 31, which … [Read more...]

This is the final article in a series. January 16, 2015—The Government Accountability Office and the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General is each issuing a report this year on 340B and Medicare – the GAO on how much Medicare spends reimbursing hospitals for 340B-discounted drugs, and the OIG on whether Medicare might save money if it could share in 340B … [Read more...]

This is the third article in a series. January 14, 2015—There was a point last spring when the comprehensive 340B program regulation, aka the mega-reg, was barreling at full throttle toward the checkered flag. [ms-protect-content id="2799"] The Health Resources and Services Administration had sent the draft regulation to the White House Office of Management and Budget for … [Read more...]

This is the second article in a series. January 13, 2015—A new session of Congress has begun with two longtime champions of the 340B program in retirement and a new majority party in the Senate. [ms-protect-content id="2799"] With the GOP controlling both the House and Senate and Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) out of office, the cast of … [Read more...]

Note: This article is the first in a series. January 8, 2015—A little over nine years ago, Congress wanted to know why health care providers had no way to tell whether they were being overcharged for 340B discounted drugs.[ms-protect-content id="2799"] "It is nonsensical to me that" 340B covered entities "do not have access to the ceiling prices," Chairman Ed Whitfield … [Read more...]

December 16, 2014—The database that the Health Resources and Services Administration maintains to protect drugmakers from paying both 340B discounts and Medicaid rebates on the same drugs applies only to Medicaid fee-for-service and not to Medicaid managed care claims, HRSA clarified yesterday in an updated 340B policy release. [ms-protect-content id="2799"] The 340B … [Read more...]

December 16, 2014—For the 340B community, 2014 will go down as the year that a federal court invalidated the 340B orphan drug exclusion regulation, derailing the long-awaited 340B "mega-reg" plus other program regulations in the works. [ms-protect-content id="2799"] This year's 10 most-popular Drug Discount Monitor stories (based on unique page views) show that regulations … [Read more...]