Pharmacy groups and community health centers press Senate to preserve 340B access and transparency in Medicaid drug payment

Pharmacists and community health centers asked the Senate Medicaid Committee to preserve recent House provisions that aim to stabilize pharmacy payment, protect 340B drug program access and allow contract pharmacies to serve Medicaid patients who receive prescriptions from federally qualified health centers.

David Burke, executive director of the Ohio Pharmacists Association, told the committee that Ohio's payment-transparency and uniformity rules have helped stabilize pharmacy access and saved the state an estimated $140 million in the first two years of implementation. He warned that reverting pharmacy benefits to managed-care plans or removing payment transparency would reduce access and destabilize independent and chain pharmacies alike.

Julie DeRossi King, president and CEO of the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers, urged protection of 340B contract-pharmacy arrangements that allow patients in rural and medically underserved areas to fill prescriptions locally. She also requested language preventing drug manufacturers from imposing distribution restrictions that force health centers to limit where patients can fill prescriptions.

Witnesses asked the Senate to retain House changes that would preserve contract pharmacies for Medicaid patients served by FQHCs and look-alikes and to seek solutions that maintain access for patients in 76 of Ohio's 88 counties served by community health centers.

Senators asked about possible carve-outs and supported negotiation aimed at keeping patient access intact; the committee did not vote on statutory language during the hearing.