340B: Pennies Make Dollars and Dollars Save Lives
Most people never really think about how their local hospital provides the critical services to help restore health and save lives. If they think about it at all, they assume insurance covers everything the hospital does and while that is one component, it is just a part of the story.
A critical way that hospitals fund services they might otherwise not be able to offer is from the savings achieved through the 340B Drug Pricing Program. This program allows hospitals, at no cost to the taxpayers, to purchase expensive pharmaceuticals, like cancer drugs, at the same price as the drug companies’ best customer, frequently the federal government. The savings from those purchases means that scarce resources can be stretched to pay for things like cancer treatment and a host of other services that otherwise might be beyond the ability of the hospital to afford.
340B Savings – Kentucky Hospital Actual Usage
Oncology – Cancer treatment close to home
- Local infusion services in rural areas
- Cancer clinic close to home
- Full-time oncologists/hematologists
- Infusion services for uninsured or under-insured patients
- Onsite dietician for cancer patients suffering from GI issues
- Renovated cancer center
- New cancer center
- Full-time Board-certified oncology pharmacists
- Screening mammograms
- Social workers and support groups for cancer survivors
- Subsidized or free chemotherapy for vulnerable patient populations who could not otherwise pay for treatment
OB/GYN – Bringing new life into the world
- Local services in rural areas
- Breastfeeding classes for mothers
- Women’s services clinic
- Supports Women’s Hospital and Level III Neonatal ICU
- Created a Level II NICU
- OB unit refurbishment
HepC Program – Preventing a highly expensive public health crisis
- Testing for primary care patients
- Treatment for chronic hepatitis C and BIV (PLH)
- Treatment for patients on pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV
- Preventing the spread of hepatitis C
- New hepatitis C clinic
Behavioral Health – Substance use treatment close to home
- Addiction recovery support
- Supplying medication free of cost to local SUD recovery centers
- New substance abuse program with low and no-cost treatment medications
- Behavioral health treatment via rural health clinic
- Counseling and support for local school district
- Full-time psychiatrists, behavioral health NPs, social worker therapists, and licensed counselors
- Financial support for school districts to assist in behavioral health initiatives around social media
- Multidisciplinary clinics to treat substance use and mental health disorders
- Subsidized inpatient behavioral health services
- Withdrawal management for SUD
- Medications for OUD and AUD
- Telehealth intake assessments for emergency departments across Kentucky
Discounts for Patients – Helping the most vulnerable afford medications
- Low or no out-of-pocket cost medications
- Free lifesaving medication for chronic conditions which vulnerable patients could otherwise not afford (e.g., insulin, blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication, etc.)
- Medication assistance programs
- Low-cost labs
- Patient Financial Assistance Programs for uninsured and under-insured patients
- Free mail order pharmacy services
- Free maintenance medication delivery to patients during clinic visits
Community Health Programs – Proactive efforts to prevent or cure disease early
- Low-cost and no-cost screenings
- Free or discounted transportation costs for appointments, home from the ED, etc.
- Health education at community and school events
- Direct grant funding for community health investments and partnerships to impact priority health issues and SDOH
- Mobile bus clinic for communities with no local primary care provider or pharmacy
- Providing food for patients with food insecurity
- Community baby showers
- Free public education on chronic conditions, smoking and vaping cessation, behavioral health, first aid, safety, etc.
- Healthy eating education for schools, patients, and the public
- Sports equipment for underprivileged schools
- Child enrichment programs
- Free service to assist patients in applying to various medication discount programs
- Meals on Wheels
- Free sports physicals for student athletes
- Human trafficking task force
- Community health nurse to provide education and outreach
- Foodbanks located in rural hospitals
- Senior Care services
- Services to address community violence
Equipment and Infrastructure – Improving quality of care
- Hospital expansion
- Replacing old and outdated equipment
- MRI
- Nuclear medicine
- Echocardiograms
- Reinvest in core infrastructure
- Replaced patient beds and mattresses
- New nurse call system to enhance patient safety
- Investment in AI and machine learning based technology to progress stroke outcomes, prevent infection and enhance patient safety
New or Expanded Services – Access to treatment when it is needed
- Pediatric Dentistry
- Wound care services
- Walk-in clinic
- Outpatient pharmacy for financially challenged individuals
- Expanding retail pharmacy locations and operating hours
- Cutting-edge therapies that would be cost prohibitive
- Increased behavioral health beds
- Emergency department renovation and expansion
- Advanced surgical services
- Medical oncology, radiation oncology
- Pharmacy department expansion
- New cardiothoracic surgery program
- New Urgent Care center
- New dedicated Heart Hospital
- Specialty physician partnership for rural hospitals
- Created dedicated Multiple Sclerosis clinic
- Created multidisciplinary program for all services in one location for cystic fibrosis patients
- New Orthopedic program
Better Wages – Acquiring talent
- Covers cost of specialists’ salaries
- Improved wages to ensure enough health care workforce to serve the community
- Subsidizes physician recruitment
- Subsidizes market-competitive wages
- Reduces dependency on contract labor
Improved Access to Care – Treatment when and where it’s needed
- Rural health clinics
- Same-day appointments at rural health clinic
- Clinical pharmacy services including disease and medication therapy
management for complex medical conditions - Emergency shelter primary care visits
- Outreach clinics in remote areas
- Hemophilia treatment center
- Title X clinic
- Federally qualified health centers
- Supports 24/7 emergency department services
- Off-site cardiology clinics
- Expanded access to outpatient behavioral health services
Health Care Education – Assuring quality of talent
- Education for health care professionals within the facilities
- Scholarship programs
- Preceptors for students in clinical rotations
- Human trafficking education and training for health care professionals
Financial Stability – Keeping the doors open and the lights on
- Offsets financial burden of providing uncompensated care
- Stretch scarce resources
- Allowed hospital to break even for the first time in five years before entering the 340B program
For more information, contact:
James C. Musser, Esq.
Senior Vice President
Policy and Government Relations
Kentucky Hospital Association
jmusser@kyha.com
Travis Burton
Associate Vice President,
Government Affairs
Kentucky Hospital Association
tburton@kyha.com
