House Health Care committee reviews H.266 amendments on 340B reporting and temporary repeal of white‑bagging ban

Jen Harvey of the Office of Legislative Council reviewed Senate Health and Welfare markup to H.266 during a House Health Care Committee meeting, describing new hospital reporting requirements for the 340B prescription drug program and a temporary change to a state ban on insurer-directed "white‑bagging."

Harvey said the amended bill would require each hospital that participates in the 340B program to submit an annual report, posted to the Green Mountain Care Board website, with aggregated acquisition costs and aggregated payment amounts for drugs obtained through 340B and dispensed or administered during the previous calendar year. The report would provide separate totals for four distribution channels: drugs dispensed from an in‑house pharmacy, drugs dispensed from a contract pharmacy, drugs administered with separate payment, and drugs administered under bundled payments. For drugs paid under bundled payments, the hospital must estimate the payment amount by comparing the drug's actual acquisition cost to its wholesale acquisition cost. Harvey said, “vendor information reported under this subsection will be exempt from public inspection and copying under the Public Records Act and kept confidential except the board…