VIEWPOINT | Hospitals using federal drug program as intended

Guest column by Tim Rave, President & CEO of the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations

Tim Rave

A recent Viewpoint guest column in the Dakota Scout that centered on the 340B program and stated that hospitals are profiting at the expense of seniors in South Dakota, is simply not true.

This important program allows health systems to assist the most vulnerable patients.

The federal government created 340B in 1992 to allow manufacturers to sell drugs to Medicare and Medicaid in exchange for offering price discounts to safety net hospitals and clinics. Drug manufacturers chose to participate, and no taxpayer dollars have ever supported the 340B program.

Only not-for-profit hospitals and clinics serving a large number of low-income and underserved patients are eligible to participate in 340B. In 2010, Congress expanded the hospitals that can participate to include small, rural hospitals, which serve an important function in our rural footprint.

South Dakota hospitals use 340B exactly how the program was intended – to stretch scarce federal resources to provide health care needed in South Dakota communities. The same cannot be said for Big Pharma.

VIEWPOINT | Hospitals profiting from federal drug program at seniors' expense