28 State AGs Demand HHS Sec. Azar Enforce Laws on 340B Drug Pricing

AIDS Healthcare Foundation ( AHF ) praised 28 U.S. state attorneys general who have drawn a line in the sand to protect an essential part of the healthcare safety net: the 340B Drug Pricing Program against the limitless greed of the drug industry.

Metadata
Provider: 
Business Wire, Inc.Business Wire, Inc.
Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
Information
Tags: 
Managed care, General Health, Pharmaceutical, White House, Federal Government, State, Local, Infectious diseases, Public policy, Other Policy Issues, Medical Supplies, AIDS, Health, Public policy, Government, Health Resources and Services Administration, Drug pricing, 340B Drug Pricing Program, Health sciences, United States Department of Health and Human Services, United States federal executive departments, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Alex Azar, Azar, Pharmaceutical industry, Healthcare Systems Bureau
Geotags: 
California, WASHINGTON, United States
⚠generated by AI ↴
Summary
Key Points: 
  • AIDS Healthcare Foundation ( AHF ) praised 28 U.S. state attorneys general who have drawn a line in the sand to protect an essential part of the healthcare safety net: the 340B Drug Pricing Program against the limitless greed of the drug industry.
  • In their December 14 letter , the bipartisan group of elected attorneys general demand that U.S. Health and Human Services ( HHS ) Secretary Alex Azar take immediate steps to enforce the law to address drug companies unlawful refusal to provide critical drug discounts to covered entities such as community health centers under the 340B Drug Pricing Program.
  • View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201214005885/en/
    Letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar from 28 state AGs demanding that he enforce the law on 340B drug pricing as required by section 340B of the U.S. Health Services Act.
  • AHF has repeatedly criticized these nine drug companies whose actions the AGs are calling unlawful.


AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) praised 28 U.S. state attorneys general who have drawn a line in the sand to protect an essential part of the healthcare safety net: the 340B Drug Pricing Program against the limitless greed of the drug industry. In their December 14 letter, the bipartisan group of elected attorneys general demand that U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar take immediate steps to enforce the law “to address drug companies’ unlawful refusal to provide critical drug discounts to covered entities such as community health centers under the 340B Drug Pricing Program.”

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201214005885/en/

Letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar from 28 state AGs demanding that he enforce the law on 340B drug pricing as required by section 340B of the U.S. Health Services Act. (Photo: Business Wire)

Letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar from 28 state AGs demanding that he enforce the law on 340B drug pricing as required by section 340B of the U.S. Health Services Act. (Photo: Business Wire)

The attorneys generally eloquently stated,

“Each day that drug manufacturers violate their statutory obligations, vulnerable patients and their healthcare centers are deprived of the essential healthcare resources that Congress intended to provide. Drug manufacturers are, without justification, flouting discounted pricing requirements for low-income patients and/or unreasonably conditioning 340B pricing on data demands, depriving such patients of affordable medications to the detriment of the health centers and hospitals that serve these vulnerable communities. During a national public health crisis, these actions are especially egregious and cannot be ignored…”

“This bipartisan group of elected officials from every region of the United States in no uncertain terms have said to these companies that their actions are unlawful. We are particularly encouraged that California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to be the next U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, signed the letter to put these greedy companies on notice that he will defend the program,” said Michael Weinstein, president of AHF. “AHF is grateful to each of them for standing up for a program that costs taxpayers nothing and strengthens the country’s health care safety net when it is under unprecedented stress.”

340B is a lifeline that allows nonprofit safety net providers, such as rural hospitals and HIV/AIDS clinics receiving funding through federal programs, to obtain prescription drugs at below-retail prices. It was established with bipartisan support as part of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992. With 340B savings, Ryan White HIV clinics and other covered entities are able to stretch their grant funds, offer a wider range of services, and improve the quality of care for under-insured vulnerable populations, such as people living with HIV.

According to the outlet, 340B Report, Connecticut Attorney General Tong (D) co-led the bipartisan coalition of state law officials with Becerra, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt (R), and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson (R). The other states represented are Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

AHF has repeatedly criticized these nine drug companies whose actions the AGs are calling “unlawful.” (See press statement: ‘AHF Blasts Amgen Over Drug Restrictions; Asks Biden Admin. to Sanction It and Others.’)

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over 1.5 million individuals in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us @aidshealthcare.

Copyright: 
Copyright Business Wire 2020