The 340B drug discount program has grown rapidly while straying from its mission of serving uninsured patients and safety-net providers, Schaeffer Scholars Ryan Long and Karen Mulligan write in a new Washington Examiner op-ed.
A recent Schaeffer Center white paper shows the 340B program’s “buy low, sell high” incentive is at the heart of the problem: Wealthier providers can pocket large spreads on drugs they purchased at a discount, driving up costs in the healthcare system while poorer entities get comparatively less benefit.
True reform of the well-intentioned program must eliminate this spread pricing mechanism, the authors write. Otherwise, 340B will continue to enrich wealthier entities at the expense of poorer ones.
“It’s time to ask, who benefits? Not those it was meant to serve,” they write.
Their op-ed is available here, and the related Schaeffer Center white paper is available here.
