PhRMA launched a new ad campaign today to highlight how large, non-profit hospitals are exploiting the 340B program for profits that can be used in egregious ways with no patient benefit.
The ad, Goldmine: Spa Day, reinforces how 340B has evolved from a targeted safety-net program into a hospital markup program that drives up costs for patients, taxpayers and employers.
Why this matters: The federal 340B program started as a small safety-net program that has ballooned into the second-largest federal drug program, delivering billions in revenue to nearly 30,000 tax-exempt hospitals and clinics with no oversight and no requirement that patients benefit.
The program faces growing scrutiny from stakeholders, policymakers, the administration and the media for the role it plays in increasing costs for patients, taxpayers and employers.
How it works:
- Non-profit hospitals and clinics can buy medicines for as little as a penny, mark them up by thousands of dollars, and pocket the difference.
- There is no transparency and no rules on how entities use program profits or that patients benefit.
- The current system incentivizes practices that drive up costs and provider consolidation.
No one’s checking on how 340B hospitals use medicine markups: As highlighted in the Goldmine ads, big non-profit hospital systems are generating billions through 340B medicine markups. They can exploit the program’s lack of guardrails to fund luxury perks while patients face higher bills.
It’s time to stop hospitals, clinics and their for-profit partners from abusing 340B and ensure the program actually helps low income patients. Washington needs to fix 340B.
Elise Shutzer
Elise Shutzer currently serves as Vice President of Public Affairs at PhRMA, leading issue communications for key topics including cost and access, hospitals, as well as strategic insights which oversees polling and message research activities. Shutzer is a seasoned leader with extensive experience in public policy advocacy, grassroots and public affairs. She most recently served as the Global Corporate Issue Head for Sustainability and Circularity at ExxonMobil leading advocacy campaigns on plastic waste, the circular economy and other environmental issues. Previously, Shutzer ran the energy and environmental grassroots and coalition development program at The Pew Charitable Trusts, and she spent over a decade at the Dewey Square Group, a prominent public affairs and communications firm.
Elise Shutzer