ADAP Advocacy Campaign Highlights Declining Charity Care at 340B Hospitals
TL;DR
ADAP Advocacy's campaign exposes how hospitals profit from 340B drug discounts instead of providing charity care, creating an opportunity to advocate for reform and accountability.
The 340B Program requires drug manufacturers to offer discounted medications to eligible hospitals, which are then supposed to use the savings to provide charity care to low-income patients.
Reforming the 340B Program could ensure hospitals use drug discounts to provide charity care, improving healthcare access for low-income and minority communities.
ADAP Advocacy's commercial reveals that 69% of 340B hospitals offer below-average charity care despite receiving drug discounts intended for patient assistance.
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ADAP Advocacy has launched a national advocacy campaign questioning whether the 340B Drug Pricing Program has become "too big to fail" while failing to deliver on its core mission of supporting low-income patients. The campaign, which includes a television commercial airing through the end of the year, focuses on declining charity care rates among hospitals that participate in the 340B program, which allows them to purchase outpatient drugs at significantly reduced prices from manufacturers.
According to ADAP Advocacy CEO Brandon M. Macsata, the program was designed so hospitals could use savings from discounted medications to provide free care and financial assistance to poor patients, but recent data suggests this isn't happening as intended. "A hallmark of the modern-day 340B Program is its design for hospitals to provide free care and financial aid to poor patients, also known as charity care," Macsata stated. "Drug manufacturers offer medications to hospitals at reduced rates so that they, in turn, can serve more low-income patients—but that isn't happening because these hospital systems are pocketing the money."
The organization points to data showing that 69% of 340B disproportionate share hospitals offer charity care at a rate below the national average. This trend has significant implications for healthcare equity, particularly for minority communities that are disproportionately affected by reduced access to charitable care. The campaign highlights this alongside other concerning trends, including rising healthcare executive compensation and increasing patient medical debt.
ADAP Advocacy has made these trends more accessible through an interactive map that visualizes the data across different regions and hospital systems. The commercial itself, part of what the organization calls its "340B Too Big To Fail" campaign, is available for viewing online at https://youtu.be/7uqGTHT7Zx4 and asks directly: "Is the 340B Drug Pricing Program the Next 'Too Big to Fail'?"
The implications of these findings extend beyond individual patient care to broader healthcare policy and pharmaceutical pricing structures. If hospitals participating in the 340B program are not passing savings along to patients in need, it calls into question the program's effectiveness and oversight mechanisms. This comes at a time when medical debt continues to burden American households, and healthcare affordability remains a critical national issue.
ADAP Advocacy, whose mission focuses on promoting and enhancing AIDS Drug Assistance Programs and improving access to care for persons living with HIV/AIDS, brings particular expertise to this issue given the organization's work at the intersection of pharmaceutical pricing, patient assistance, and healthcare access. The current campaign represents a significant expansion of their advocacy work into broader 340B program oversight and accountability.
Curated from 24-7 Press Release
