Reducing Costs, Expanding Access to Prescription Drugs Through the 340B Program

Did you know that October is National Pharmacy Month? This year, we recognize the pharmacists who are vital caregivers to the communities Ascension serves. Ensuring patients have access to lifesaving medication is a critical part of our mission to provide spiritually-centered, holistic care to the poor and vulnerable, and this would not be possible without our pharmacists. We salute pharmacists everywhere working day in and day out to help patients manage their conditions and live healthier lives.

For many, especially those in underserved and vulnerable populations, high prescription drug costs are an obstacle to meeting their health care needs. We're focused on improving outcomes at lower costs, including the cost of pharmacy prescriptions, which is why many Ascension hospitals proudly participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

What is the 340B Program?

Created in 1992, 340B is a federal program that allows eligible healthcare providers, like safety-net hospitals serving disproportionately vulnerable populations, to purchase outpatient drugs at significantly reduced prices. This allows providers to stretch scarce resources and fulfill important commitments in the communities they serve.

How does the 340B Program Help Ascension Carry Out our Mission?

As a non-profit health system, Ascension plays a critical role in helping underserved individuals through charity and safety-net care. In fact, last year alone, Ascension provided $2.3 billion in care to persons living in poverty and other community benefit programs, advancing our legacy to provide faith-based healthcare to those in need. Savings from the 340B program help us stretch finite resources to make this possible.

As an example, our facilities in Texas demonstrate how the 340B Program enhances our ability to care for patients and strengthen community health. In 2023, $20.9 million in 340B savings helped enable local initiatives such as:

• A medication affordability program that provides prescription drugs to uninsured and impoverished patients for free or at significantly reduced costs.
• Charitable pharmacies which operate Dispensary of Hope locations serving uninsured populations with free medication in central Texas.

Our hospitals and sites of care in other states mirror these successes as well, with 340B savings equipping us to provide qualified patients with post-discharge medications at no charge, support food delivery programs for patients with chronic diseases, and so much more. Last year, 54 Ascension hospitals participated in the 340B program, including 16 critical access hospitals (CAHs) and 28 disproportionate share (DSH) hospitals. But despite these savings across a large share of our footprint, Ascension still invests $1.7 billion annually on pharmaceutical purchases to treat our patients.

The preservation of the 340B Program is crucial to Ascension's hospitals and affiliated providers across the nation to deliver on our mission and provide and expand access to quality healthcare to every person in need. Efforts to severely reduce the 340B program's reach are misguided and would put patients served by non-profit and safety-net hospitals at risk of facing higher prescription drug costs. It's critical that Congress protect this program to ensure patients continue to have affordable access to life-saving drugs and quality healthcare.