Congress Must Stop Sec. Kennedy’s Sellout to Big Pharma

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. is on the verge of an epic giveaway to the drug industry. The agency will soon start a foolhardy rebate scheme for the 340B Drug Discount Program that could destroy a financial lifeline to America’s rural safety-net hospitals.

Congress can defund this rebate pilot plan, and we urge appropriators to act now.

A recent bipartisan letter to do just that was sponsored by Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Doris Matsui (D-CA), Dusty Johnson (R-SD) and Tracey Mann (R-KS) and carries 94 signatories. It says: “As you prepare your Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 appropriations bill, we urge you to include bill language barring the use of funds for implementation of a 340B Rebate Model Program at the Department of Health and Human Services.”

The letter clearly lays out the potential damage. “A rebate model pilot program would require all covered entities to purchase drugs on the CMS Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Selected Drug List at the wholesale acquisition cost – the highest sticker price that manufacturers offer, which is rarely actually paid by purchasers in the health care system. This would require 340B providers to float significant amounts of cash to drug companies in hopes of a rebate being paid.”

Nine Senators have also asked appropriators to block funding. “We are concerned that a rebate model undermines the intent of the 340B statute in another critical way. If 340B-covered entities are unable to afford to prescribe and purchase these drugs, patients served at safety net providers will experience a lower standard of care.” The group includes Senators Peter Welch (D-VT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Angus King, Jr. (I-ME), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Ben Lujan (D-NM), Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY), Tina Smith (D-MN) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

We applaud members of Congress working to block Secretary Kennedy’s shameful kowtow to Big Pharma and encourage others to join the fight. The Secretary has fallen deeply under the influence of Big Pharma which has been trying to kill 340B for decades. And it comes as rural safety-net hospitals and clinics are blinking out of existence due to insurmountable costs. The proposed rebate also clearly works against President Trump’s plans to Make America Healthy Again and to control exorbitant medication prices.

We don’t understand why Mr. Kennedy has forsaken his long-held populism against the drug industry but it’s ugly to watch.

Looks like Mr. Kennedy wants to swim in the DC swamp instead of draining it.