Committee advances bill to require 340B discounts for pharmacies contracting with covered entities

Summary

The Senate Health Services Committee voted to give Senate Bill 14 a favorable recommendation after hearing testimony from rural hospital leaders who said 340B savings fund local oncology, addiction recovery and other services, and from industry groups that said the bill would expand federal law and raise costs for employers and payers.

FRANKFORT — The Senate Standing Committee on Health Services on Monday advanced Senate Bill 14, a measure supporters say will ensure Kentucky hospitals and their contract pharmacies receive federally discounted 340B drug prices that manufacturers have increasingly denied to some contract pharmacies.

Supporters told the committee the 340B program underpins cancer care, addiction recovery and other services in rural counties and that manufacturers’ restrictions on deliveries to contract pharmacies have reduced savings that hospitals use to fund those programs. "This is a very critical program for our hospitals and for access to care in rural communities," Nancy Galvani, president and CEO of the Kentucky Hospital Association, said in testimony.

The bill would, in effect, require manufacturers that offer 340B pricing in other states to provide comparable pricing for drugs delivered to pharmacies that contract with 340B-covered entities…

Committee advances bill to require 340B discounts for pharmacies contracting with covered entities

Summary

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