Sec. 2. Findings and purpose
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/bill/118/hr/2534/ih/section-2·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: The 340B drug pricing program is an essential part of the Nation’s health care safety net. 340B enables safety-net providers to stretch scarce resources further to offer services and treat patients through the savings these providers receive under the program. 340B savings support hospitals, clinics, and health centers’ care for patients who have low incomes, including those with low incomes enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid. 340B savings are critically important to rural hospitals that operate on very slim margins and serve patients in isolated areas with limited access to health care. 340B supports care for those in need without using taxpayer dollars.
Some commercial payers and pharmacy benefit managers are paying less to 340B covered entities and their contract pharmacies for 340B drugs, requiring identification of 340B drug claims or otherwise discriminating against 340B covered entities and their contract pharmacies on the basis of their status as providers or pharmacies that dispense 340B drugs. These types of discriminatory actions undermine the purpose of the 340B program and harm the patients served by 340B covered entities.
Commercial payers and pharmacy benefit managers’ imposition of requirements on a 340B pharmacy because it is a pharmacy that dispenses 340B drugs, or requirements with respect to the use of and billing for drugs purchased under 340B because they are 340B drugs is inconsistent with public policy because of the deleterious effects on the nation’s health care safety net. The purposes of this Act are the following: To prohibit discriminatory actions, including several specified actions, by a pharmacy benefit manager, a group health plan, a health insurance issuer offering group or individual health insurance, or a sponsor of a Medicare part D prescription drug plan against 340B covered entities and their pharmacies and requiring them to be treated as any other provider or pharmacy.
To provide for the imposition of civil monetary penalties on pharmacy benefit managers that violate the new protections and require the Health Services and Resources Administration to promulgate implementing regulations. To authorize the Secretary to contract with a third-party entity to collect and review data from State Medicaid agencies and covered entities to prevent Medicaid duplicate discounts.