Crain's Detroit Business: Some hospitals feel impact of federal drug-discount cutbacks
Posted on February 12, 2018
In this Feb. 11, 2018, article, Crain's Detroit Business reporter Jay Greene takes a look at how a rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that affected funding available through the federal 340B Drug Discount Program is impacting Michigan hospitals.
The 340B Drug Discount Program is a federal program created by Congress to help provide relief from escalating drug prices to safety-net hospitals and other healthcare providers serving vulnerable patient populations. It requires drug companies to offer discounts of up to 50 percent on many popular outpatient drugs.
"A significant number of Michigan's 340B hospitals are not affected by the rule," Laura Appel, MHA's senior vice president and chief innovation officer, said in the article. "However, our larger hospitals are anticipating significant reductions in payments."
The MHA went on to say, "It's important to remember that the intent of the 340B program was to help hospitals that serve the most vulnerable patients, and we're troubled by the fact that the CMS rule is an arbitrary decision with no guarantee that this funding continues to stay in health care."
Read the article
Tags: CMS, Laura Appel, 340B, drug discount program
Posted in: Issues in Healthcare, MHA In The News