Anti-340B Hearing Goes Off The Rails

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) was hoping to savage the 340B Drug Discount Program during a Capitol Hill hearing on October 23rd. But several of his Republican colleagues foiled the plan.

Cassidy is chair of the powerful Health Education, Labor and Pension Committee and receives gobs of money from the pharmaceutical industry. He reliably carries the water for Big Pharma and is a perennial 340B hater.

The chairman’s goal for the hearing was to talk about growth in the program with representatives from the Congressional Budget Office and the Government Accountability Office. However, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) undermined the proceedings by championing 340B. “We should be expanding this, not reforming it,” he said.

“Eighty-three percent of rural hospitals in my state operate at a loss … You can’t go towards people that are losing money already, not towards states like mine that rely on 340B discounts for survival.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) agreed, saying 340B makes “the difference between a positive operating margin and a negative operating margin” for many Maine hospitals. "If we were to limit or eliminate altogether the 340B benefit without other policy changes, we would wipe out the ability of these hospitals to operate.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) concurred and voiced support for the pharmacies that dispense medicines through the program. “Contract pharmacies and telepharmacy services are critically important for us, connecting patients to critical pharmacies,” she said, adding she wants to see their use “preserved and strengthened.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) further tugged the hearing off course by attacking the drug industry: “We just say the pharma companies can set the price in the market—the global market—where they want it." Decrying the fact that US consumers pay much more for medicines than their overseas counterparts, Hawley stated: “I’m a former prosecutor, we used to call this price gouging.”

That’s probably not what Big Pharma had hoped for. 

Cassidy’s campaign bank accounts have been well compensated by the industry for his anti-340B position. Between 2007 and 2024 he received a total of $1.3 million in campaign contributions from drug companies. A whopping $713,000 of that palm greasing came late last year when Cassidy’s chairmanship of the HELP Committee was announced.

Cassidy is also a hospital physician, which under normal circumstances would likely make him a friend of the program.

Not so much.

Mr. Cassidy has led a years-long investigation of the 340B program and has released a report calling for reforms. We’re all for transparency, but that needs to start with the drug industry. First, let’s find out how much Big Pharma makes on 340B drugs. Second, we’d like to know how much the drug industry makes on medicines sold through the Medicaid and Medicare programs. This profit is made possible by Big Pharma’s participation in 340B – and paid for by taxpayers.  But don’t hold your breath waiting for Big Pharma’s lap dog in the Senate to convene a hearing asking his drug industry pals for answers.