Opinion: State lawmakers have an easy choice when it comes to standing with Colorado patients over Big Pharma profits ...Middle East

Thanks to a program created by Congress more than 30 years ago, patients at safety-net hospitals throughout Colorado and across the country enjoy access to low-cost prescription drugs, communicable disease programs, cancer screening and prevention, maternal health and many other programs — all at no cost to taxpayers. 

The federal 340B program requires pharmaceutical companies to sell discounted drugs to nonprofit hospitals and other providers that care for low-income and vulnerable populations. By reducing prices for certain medications, the drug companies still make a mighty profit but also help patients obtain the treatment they deserve.

Unfortunately, Big Pharma has worked hard to undermine various aspects of the law, for instance by limiting the number of pharmacies a safety-net provider can work with to provide discounted medications for patients. This makes it harder for patients to obtain treatment the 340B discounts are designed to make available. 

This year in Colorado, we are asking state lawmakers to stand up for patients and for our safety-net hospitals by supporting Senate Bill 071, the 340B Contract Pharmacy Protection Act. The bipartisan bill would restrict the ability of drug manufacturers to unilaterally impose limits to the 340B program and its participating providers. It also would heighten transparency by requiring participating providers in Colorado to annually post to their website’s details concerning the total benefit received through the program and how it was spent.  

The bipartisan 340B program has been in place since 1992. It is monitored by federal regulators and participating health care providers must adhere to stringent rules and reporting requirements. 

The 340B intent, as articulated in the law, is to enable hospitals to stretch scarce resources to deliver more and better care. The program is an essential lifeline for 68 participating Colorado hospitals, many of which operate with low or negative profit margins.

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Meanwhile, the deep-pocketed pharmaceutical industry has mounted a national effort to weaken 340B, even though this discount program accounts for just 3% of drug companies’ profits globally. One such approach is to restrict patient access to life-saving medications by limiting the number of pharmacies in the program to just one per hospital. Currently there are more than 2,500 participating pharmacies in Colorado, which is essential for patient access and to ensure benefits are delivered in as many locations where prescriptions are filled.

Coloradans cannot afford to see the program weakened through unnecessary restrictions that create barriers for low-income and vulnerable patients in the name of increased profits.

Senate Bill 071 would increase transparency while maintaining important benefits that improve access to care, reduce costs and help keep local hospitals and health centers viable. Without the 340B program, many patients would struggle getting the affordable medications and critical health services they need. 

Eight states have taken similar action to protect the 340B program, and recent court verdicts have universally sided with 340B providers. Most recently, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging an Arkansas law requiring pharmaceutical companies to offer discounts on drugs dispensed by third-party pharmacies that contract with hospitals and clinics serving low-income populations. That followed an 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that upheld the Arkansas law.

Gov. Jared Polis has voiced his support for our proposed legislation, because he understands the 340B program is vital for Colorado patients. The bill has been introduced in the Senate and assigned to the Health & Human Services Committee.

Please join hospitals and health care providers across the state and ask your lawmaker to do the same: Simply require that pharmaceutical manufacturers follow the law and continue their long-standing — and legally obligated — partnership to make drugs and health care more affordable.  

Jeff Tieman, of Denver, is president and chief executive officer of the Colorado Hospital Association.

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