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Originally enacted to help eligible safety-net providers buy medicines at steep discounts and pass the savings on to lower-income and vulnerable patients, the program has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]
President Joe Biden is set to "transform" and "remake" the entire auto industry – "first with carrots, now with sticks" – notes the Washington Post, as if dictating the output of a major industry is within the governing purview of the executive branch. The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing draconian emissions limits for vehicles, ensuring that 67% of all new passenger cars and trucks produced within nine years will be electric. This is state coercion. It is undemocratic. We are not governed; we are managed.
In fascist economies…