April 4, 2012—Drug manufacturer Eli Lilly and Co. is limiting sales of its widely used atypical antipsychotic Zyprexa (olanzapine) in light of the drug's 340B ceiling price falling to $0.01 under the Office of Pharmacy Affairs' (OPA) "penny pricing" policy. The company notified OPA that it was instituting the purchasing limits in a March 28 letter that OPA posted on its home … [Read more...]
340B Hospital Recertification Set for 3rd Week of April & 1st Week of May
Revised dates and other new details emerge in second OPA webinarMarch 30, 2012—The Office of Pharmacy Affairs (OPA) now plans to begin recertifying the 340B eligibility of children's and free-standing cancer hospitals, rural referral centers (RRCs), and sole community hospitals (SCHs) during the third week of April, followed by disproportionate share (DSH) and critical access hospitals (CAHs) during the first week of May, the OPA official … [Read more...]
HRSA Seeks Input on 340B Paperwork Burdens
Agency estimates lengths of time it should take to enroll, recertify, and make changesMarch 29, 2012—The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is inviting public comment on how much time it takes for hospitals, health centers, and other providers to initially enroll in 340B and then later to recertify their eligibility. HRSA issued the request for comments in the March 19 Federal Register.[ms-protect-content id="2799"] Per the Affordable Care … [Read more...]
New SSI Data Might Affect Hospitals’ 340B Eligibility
Medicare managed care days are now counted in a way that will tend to reduce DSH percentagesMarch 28, 2012—Some hospitals whose disproportionate share (DSH) patient percentages hover just above the level needed to qualify them for 340B drug pricing might lose their eligibility due to recent action by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). To obtain 340B pricing, DSH hospitals must have a DSH patient percentage greater than 11.75 … [Read more...]
CMS Issues Final Rule for Health Insurance Exchanges
Publication coincides with Supreme Court deliberations on health care reformMarch 28, 2012—The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) yesterday formally published an interim final regulation to establish health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—the constitutionality of which will soon be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The High Court today wrapped up six hours of arguments on whether the question of ACA's … [Read more...]
Study Gauges 340B Orphan Drug Discount Restriction’s Effect
Critical access hospitals spending significantly more on the products than they otherwise wouldMarch 19, 2012—Critical access hospitals (CAHs) are spending significantly more on orphan drugs than they otherwise would if they could buy the medicines at 340B discounted prices, a new study suggests. The research, published in the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy's Innovations in Pharmacy quarterly, found that a group of 18 CAHs in Minnesota and Wisconsin spent … [Read more...]
HRSA Issues Policy Release on 340B Audits
Some drug manufacturers awaiting OPA go-ahead to commence their own auditsMarch 9, 2012—The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has posted a document on the Office of Pharmacy Affairs (OPA) Web site clarifying its policy on 340B covered entity audits. The March 5 document, called a policy release, notes that the 340B statute permits the federal government and drug manufacturers to audit covered entity records pertaining to … [Read more...]