340B PATIENTS Act would raise costs for employers, working families 

Council urges Congress to lower health care costs by restoring 340B program to its original intent

WASHINGTON, DC – Ilyse Schuman, senior vice president, health and paid leave policy at the American Benefits Council, issued the following statement upon the introduction of the 340B Pharmaceutical Access To Invest in Essential, Needed Treatments & Support (PATIENTS) Act on July 22 by Representative Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Senator Peter Welch (D-VT):

“Employers are deeply concerned about the significant cost that explosive growth of the 340B program has imposed on employer-sponsored health plans,” Schuman said.

Earlier this year, the Council issued a paper explaining how employers, working families and taxpayers are shouldering a significant cost of the 340B drug pricing program’s expansion, while the program is failing to sufficiently benefit the vulnerable patients it was intended to serve:

GROWTH UNCHECKED: A Call to Action for Policymakers to Reform 340B, to Stop It from Driving Up Health Care Costs for Employers, Working Families and Taxpayers

“As employers seek to ensure that the 340B program is working as it was intended and does not raise costs for employer-sponsored health plans, the Council calls upon Congress to carefully consider the impact of the program, or any expansion thereof, on employers and working families,” Schuman said.

“Offering health coverage to almost 180 million Americans, employers are a key stakeholder in legislative efforts to amend the 340B program. The Council has strong concerns that the growth of the 340B program is raising costs for employers and working families by fueling hospital-physician consolidation, affecting discounts in the commercial market and promoting increased use of higher-cost therapies. The 340B PATIENTS Act could further expand the program and accelerate this trend by, among other things, requiring that the 340B discount prices be offered to covered entities regardless of the manner or location in which a drug is dispensed, including if a covered entity uses a contract pharmacy to dispense 340B drugs to the entity’s patients. The Council opposes legislation such as the 340B PATIENTS Act that would raise costs for working families with employer-sponsored health coverage and urges Congress to instead work with us on reforms to the 340B program that restore the program to its intent without raising costs for employers, employees and taxpayers.”

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