Representative Wade Williams has introduced House Bill 490, a companion bill to Senate Bill 27 (Meredith), which prevents Kentucky’s safety net hospitals and community health centers from being charged more for outpatient medications than the prices offered by drug manufacturers in other states. These facilities serve disproportionately high numbers of patients living in poverty, and many of those patients depend on services funded by the discounted medications of the federal 340B drug discount program.
Contrary to what Big Pharma claims, these bills:
- Do not involve price fixing. These bills do not alter the federal drug discount in any way. Drug manufacturers set the price and amount of discount pursuant to federal regulations.
- Do not limit competition. If this legislation does not pass, facilities serving Kentucky’s most vulnerable patients will be put in an anticompetitive position relative to other states where Big Pharma is offering lower-priced drugs.
- Do not require any taxpayer money. Plus, the discounts (set by the manufacturers) provided under the 340B program represent only 7% of drug spending.
Without SB 27 and HB 490, hospitals may no longer be able to continue the services being supported by drug savings, such as access to local cancer treatment, reduced co-pays for medication, hepatitis C clinics, and the ability for some hospitals to remain open.
Click the button below to show your representative the importance of these discounts to the patients you serve, and if you haven’t already contacted your Senator to support SB 27, please click here.
