Committee hears hours of testimony on 340B program; hospitals and clinics urge protection while manufacturers warn of higher costs

Testimony before the House Industry, Business and Labor Committee covered competing views on the federal 340B drug pricing program and state-level steps proposed in House Bill 1473 to limit manufacturer-imposed restrictions on contract pharmacies.

Representatives of rural hospitals, community health centers and pharmacy associations told the committee that recent manufacturer policies have narrowed which pharmacies can participate, reduced covered entities’ ability to access discounted outpatient drugs, and threatened programs and services that rely on those savings. Eric Christiansen, chief executive officer of Heart of America Medical Center in Rugby, said 340B savings support nonrevenue services such as ambulance operations, daycare, diabetes education and charity care; he provided annual loss figures he said his facility covers from those services and said that threats to 340B would force cuts. Mike Schwab of the North Dakota Pharmacists Association and Erin Navarro, director of…