Earlier this year, a U.S. Senate HELP Committee report confirmed that major hospital systems generate billions of dollars through the 340B drug discount program without passing savings directly to patients. Now, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has released a new analysis showing that program spending grew from $6.6 billion in 2010 to a staggering $43.9 billion in 2021.

The program allows hospitals to buy outpatient drugs at steep discounts, bill patients and health plans — including union benefit plans and Medicare — at full price and keep the difference. Hospitals describe the revenue as critical support that doesn’t fall on taxpayers, but the CBO’s latest findings tell a different story : it incentivizes large health systems to buy up independent practices and rec

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