Community Health

340B Drug Pricing Program

Helping stretch resources despite rising prescription drug prices

Increasing Vital Access to Care in Our Community

What is 340B?

For over 30 years, the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program has helped health care organizations like ChristianaCare that serve high numbers of uninsured and under-insured patients stretch their resources despite rising prescription drug prices.

The program – not funded through taxpayer dollars – allows ChristianaCare to purchase outpatient drugs at a substantial discount from pharmaceutical manufacturers. The savings resulting from this program are used to lower costs for patients while also delivering innovative and mission-critical services to the community.

Community Impact of 340B

We use our 340B savings to support our community health programs and services in our local communities, including:

Mobile health vans to support cancer screening and preventive care in high-need areas.
Hiring community health workers who provide support and assistance to new moms and babies, students, seniors and other vulnerable patient populations.
Transportation services to help patients get to their appointments.
Pharmacist consultations with patient care teams to discuss medications, address side effects and improve patient experience.

340B Transparency

ChristianaCare is dedicated to investing savings earned through our participation in the 340B program to improving services and care in the communities we serve.

We are committed to transparency as we work to ensure that our high-quality care is delivered at an affordable cost, including committing to publicly disclosing, on an annual basis, our 340B estimated savings, in conjunction with our continues work to assess the unique health needs of our community.

Why 340B Matters

The savings created by the 340B discount program allow ChristianaCare to stretch limited federal resources to reduce the price of outpatient medications for patients and expand needed health services to the communities we serve.

Without 340B savings, ChristianaCare could not:

Deliver exceptional care to patients who have no insurance or are under-insured.
Provide access to high-cost drug therapies.
Support programs, innovations and prevention initiatives that help our neighbors get healthy and stay healthy, including newborns, mothers, seniors and veterans.

Appendix: Integrity & Contract Pharmacy Talking Points

Protecting the Integrity of the 340B Program

As a committed participant in the 340B program, ChristianaCare is committed to improving services and care in the communities we serve, while also protecting and advocating for the integrity of the program.

The 340B program requires participating hospitals to meet numerous program integrity requirements. Hospitals must recertify their eligibility annually to participate and attest to meeting all the program requirements.
ChristianaCare is committed to improving transparency of the 340B program by communicating publicly the immense value the program brings to our patients and community

Preserving Contract Pharmacy Arrangements for Covered Entities

In support of the mission of the 340B program to expand access to care, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) allows covered entities – like ChristianaCare – the ability to contract with community and specialty pharmacies to dispense drugs on their behalf to eligible patients.

Contract pharmacies serve as an extension of the 340B provider and allow patients to their prescribed drug treatments in the convenience of their local community pharmacy.

For ChristianaCare, these arrangements allow patients to access the drugs they need when they need it, especially as patients rely more heavily on specialty drugs often in limited distribution.
For our patients, these arrangements make it easier to access their needed drugs without having to travel to the hospital to receive the drug.

Despite the 340B savings generated from these arrangements increasing access to more affordable health care services, several drug manufacturers have taken unprecedented and unlawful actions to limit or deny access to 340B pricing through these contract pharmacy arrangements.

ChristianaCare is extremely concerned about drug manufacturers’ non-compliance with 340B program requirements and resistance to enforcement actions by federal oversight agencies, particularly as it relates to the issue of contract pharmacy.

ChristianaCare believes it is crucial to address the current hurdles created by drug manufacturers that impact the benefits of the 340B Program, create additional compliance concerns for covered entities, and add labor costs and expenses that could otherwise be reinvested to support our patients and community.