January 2, 2013—Safety-net health care providers that want to add themselves or their satellite facilities to the 340B drug discount program or that want to establish 340B contract pharmacy arrangements starting in April have until Jan. 15 to submit their online applications.
Last July, the Office of Pharmacy Affairs (OPA) announced a new enrollment policy for the 340B program that took effect on Oct. 1.[ms-protect-content id=”2799″] Health care providers now have just four 15-day periods per year in which to enroll themselves, their outpatient facilities, or their contract pharmacies. Under the new system, the registration period for eligibility beginning Jan. 1 ran from Oct. 1 through Oct. 15. The enrollment period for April 1eligibility began on Jan. 1 and runs through Jan. 15. The next two periods will be April 1-15 for July 1 eligibility and July 1-15 for Oct. 1 eligibility. More information on 340B eligibility and enrollment is available on the OPA website.
When it made its July announcement, OPA noted that “covered entities will not be able to submit registrations outside of these date parameters … except when the Secretary [of Health and Human Services] has declared a public health emergency.”
In late October, the Secretary of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency in New York and New Jersey due to Hurricane Sandy and a short while later OPA activated its 340B “flexibilities during disasters” policy. OPA recently reposted its announcement on its website.[/ms-protect-content]