340B Drug Pricing Program

Disagreement Over 340B’s Future

Almost immediately after the Department of Health and Human Services announced a pilot program to test using a rebate model in the 340B Drug Pricing Program, members of Congress responded with proposed legislation that would prevent HHS from implementing that pilot. Last week, HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration announced its 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program, a refined version of a previous pilot program that a federal court rejected earlier this year. Under this new model, qualifying drug manufacturers will be able to provide the 340B ceiling price to eligible 340B providers through rebates, an approach manufacturers have increasingly sought, [...]

joe2026-08-11T15:58:28-04:00August 12, 2026|340b, hospitals|

HRSA Tries Again With New 340B Model

Following a federal court rejection earlier this year of a previously announced pilot program to alter how the 340B Drug Pricing Program is administered, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration has announced that it will implement a revised 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program. Under this new model, qualifying drug manufacturers will be able to provide the 340B ceiling price to eligible 340B providers through rebates, an approach manufacturers have increasingly sought, rather than the upfront discounts that providers prefer. According to a HRSA news release, the agency believes its new model will: Improve claims-level [...]

joe2026-08-06T15:15:39-04:00August 10, 2026|340b|

More Medicaid DSH Money Coming for Some Hospitals?

Some hospitals may be in line for larger Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments as a result of a federal court decision that calls for changes in how those Medicaid DSH payments are calculated. Last week, a U.S. District court in Texas again vacated a 2023 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regulation that excludes inpatient days covered by uncompensated care pools, such as through section 1115 waivers, when quantifying Medicaid days for the purpose of calculating hospitals’ Medicaid DSH payments. This decision applies nationwide and has implications for the computation of some hospitals’ Medicaid DSH payments and for establishing hospitals’ [...]

joe2026-08-05T11:40:12-04:00August 6, 2026|340b, hospitals, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH|

Federal Health Policy Update for February 26

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for February 20-26. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Both chambers of Congress are in session this week and next. The partial shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security that began on February 23 continues. The House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing titled “Advancing the Next Generation of America’s Health Care Workforce” to examine the shortage of resident physicians and explore ways to strengthen rural health care providers and Graduate Medical Education (GME). Watch the hearing and review the witness testimony here. Centers for Medicare & [...]

joe2026-02-26T15:43:01-05:00February 26, 2026|340b, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, COVID-19, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

Feds Taking Another Shot at 340B Changes

Only a week after a federal court rejected for a second time its attempt to introduce a new approach to administering the 340B Drug Pricing Program, the Health Resources and Services Administration is going back to the drawing board and trying again to launch the model. In its first step, HRSA has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather input from interested parties on whether the agency should implement a rebate model under the 340B program and how best to implement such a model. The RFI notes that in 2024, HRSA began receiving inquiries from drug companies seeking to [...]

joe2026-02-18T10:37:51-05:00February 18, 2026|340b|

Federal Health Policy Update for January 15

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for January 9-15. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The White House The White House has unveiled “The Great Healthcare Plan,” which it describes as “… a broad healthcare initiative that will slash prescription drug prices, reduce insurance premiums, hold big insurance companies accountable, and maximize price transparency in the American healthcare system.” The major components of the plan, and the key steps for each, are: lower drug prices slash prescription drug prices allow more over-the-counter medicines lower insurance premiums send the [...]

joe2026-01-15T16:13:09-05:00January 15, 2026|340b, Affordable Care Act, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicare|

340B Pilot in Limbo After Court Acts – Twice

The future of the Department of Health and Human Services’ 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program is in jeopardy after two setbacks in federal court. A federal court issued a preliminary injunction preventing HHS from implementing the limited model, which was to test replacing the discounts that pharmaceutical companies provide to eligible providers participating in the section 340B prescription drug program when they purchase prescription drugs with post-purchase rebates for products they have already purchased. In issuing its injunction, the court wrote that … the Administrative Procedure Act’s (APA) arbitrary and capricious standard imposes vanishingly minimal requirements that a federal agency [...]

joe2026-01-13T16:50:39-05:00January 15, 2026|340b|

HHS Sets 340B Rebate Model

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration has approved eight plans from pharmaceutical companies to participate in its 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program. Currently, eligible 340B providers receive discounts when they purchase covered drugs but under the rebate model, covered entities continue to make purchases through their 340B wholesaler and will seek rebates from the pharmaceutical companies for the ten affected drugs dispensed to 340B-eligible patients after a purchase is made. Providers argue that the new approach creates a new, significant administrative burden for them and could affect their cash flow while pharmaceutical companies maintain [...]

joe2025-11-05T12:45:32-05:00November 6, 2025|340b|

Senate Committee Looks at 340B

Last week the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held a hearing on the 340B Drug Pricing Program, which provides discounted prescription drugs to eligible health care providers, known as "covered entities," to help them serve low-income and uninsured patients. In recent years the 340B program has become more controversial as it has grown and as pharmaceutical companies object more strenuously to the discounts they are required to provide to participating providers. In addition, some critics charge that the savings providers gain from 340B discounts are not consistently reinvested in care for low-income and uninsured patients while those [...]

joe2025-10-28T15:50:27-04:00October 29, 2025|340b, Congress|

Senate Committee Looks at 340B

Last week the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing on the 340B Drug Pricing Program to discuss its growth and impact on patients. Among other subjects, the committee reviewed the importance of the 340B program; the pharmaceutical manufacturers’ rebate program that begins in January; potential transparency reforms; ensuring that 340B entities do not receive duplicate drug discounts; revising the definition of a patient for a covered entity; and reforms involving the use of contract pharmacies. Representatives from the Government Accountability Office, Congressional Budget Office (CBO), UCLA served on the hearing’s witness panel. Go here to find [...]

joe2025-10-23T14:02:22-04:00October 27, 2025|340b|