340B Drug Pricing Program Contributes to Rising Healthcare Costs and Is Ripe for Reform
The U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee's Health Subcommittee today will host the third hearing in its health care affordability series, specifically examining the role providers and hospitals play in shaping the cost of care for Americans.
While the hearing will likely examine numerous issues, there is none more ripe for reform than the flawed 340B drug pricing program.
Originally enacted to help eligible safety-net providers buy medicines at steep discounts and pass the savings on to lower-income and vulnerable patients, the program has ballooned as a revenue stream for many participating hospitals and contract pharmacy chains.
As the size and complexity of the 340B program has expanded, participating hospitals and contract pharmacies have instead used the program to increase…[more]
Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy is one of the Democrats urging his party to more aggressively resist President Donald Trump across a broad range of issues. "Mr. Murphy has seemed to be everywhere all at once since Inauguration Day," wrote The New York Times recently, "staging a loud and constant resistance to Mr. Trump at a time when Democrats are struggling to figure out how to respond to him."
Murphy has exhibited the usual resistance obsessions, focusing furiously on Trump, on DOGE head Elon Musk and on Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. And now, as Murphy devotes his energy…
