In the News

Community health centers stand on the front lines of healthcare delivery. Centers like ours are more than just medical facilities — they are vital lifelines in our state’s healthcare infrastructure that play a pivotal role in ensuring every Hoosier, regardless of their socioeconomic background, has access to quality healthcare.

Much of this work is made possible by a little known federal program called 340B. Created by Congress in 1992, the 340B program mandates pharmaceutical companies make prescription drugs available to qualifying safety-net providers at a discounted price. This would ensure low-income households can afford the medicines they need and help providers serving these communities expand their reach and provide essential healthcare to more vulnerable people.

This program is a game-changer for organizations like ours. In our service area, the poverty level is approximately 37 percent and the majority of our patients are enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid. Over the past year, Valley Professionals Community Health Center served nearly 25,000 patients with more than 119,000 visits. Of our adult patients, 80 percent have at least one chronic condition, which can make finding affordable treatment even more difficult. The savings provided by 340B drug discounts have enabled us to deliver more services to more people through our clinics and mobile health centers — including many Hoosiers with serious health concerns.

Recently, we had the honor of hosting Congressman Larry Bucshon at our location in West Terre Haute where he was recognized for his leadership in improving and preserving the 340B program. The Congressman also heard from patients about how much the services they receive at our center mean to them and their families.

Unfortunately, if policymakers don’t reform the 340B program, our community may be in danger of losing this resource. A lack of oversight, accountability, and transparency in the program has enabled some participants to take advantage of it. While the volume of discounted drugs has grown tremendously over the years, many of these discounts are going to entities that aren’t fulfilling the mission of helping those in need. Wealthy corporations and large hospital systems are using the program to acquire discounted drugs to bolster their revenue without putting the savings back into their communities.

Examples of these have been featured in the media. A healthcare system in Ohio established facilities in wealthier sections of its city and are utilizing the program even though the patients they serve are far from needy. A hospital in Virginia used 340B savings to expand services to more prosperous neighborhoods while curtailing healthcare to the city’s poorer citizens. And a lack of clarity regarding contract pharmacy arrangements allows many of these providers to use affiliated pharmacies — including major chains like Walgreens and Walmart — to receive discounted prescriptions even if they are not going to low-income patients.

This misuse of resources puts the entire program in jeopardy, and patients who depend on the affordable medicines and the services of safety-net providers will ultimately suffer. That’s why Community Health Centers joined with patient advocates, healthcare providers, consumer groups, and biopharmaceutical manufacturers to form the Alliance to Save America’s 340B Program. This partnership is working with lawmakers like Congressman Bucshon to pursue commonsense, sustainable program reforms. The group recently announced a list of 10 policy principles lawmakers should consider in a comprehensive package to realign the 340B program back towards the interests of the safety-net providers. These changes would:

• Strengthen program eligibility requirements to ensure true safety-net providers and their patients are the ones benefiting.

• Establish clear criteria for contract pharmacy participation.

• Ensure discounted prescriptions are reaching the patients who need them; and;

• Update public reporting requirements and oversight to ensure 340B is working as intended.

Throughout Indiana, Community Health Centers are bringing valuable health services to individuals and families who may otherwise never receive them. To continue serving vulnerable communities, providers like us need to be assured that the resources to do so will continue to be available. Holistic reform to the 340B program is essential in securing that future.