Federal judge rules HHS must restore full 340B payments

A federal judge last week ruled that HHS must restore full payments to the 340B program for the remainder of 2022—a move that hospital industry leaders say is an “important victory” for 340B hospitals that have faced years of underpayments.

Background

The 340B program requires drug manufacturers to provide significant discounts on certain medications sold to safety-net providers. Some discounts may be as large as 50%, Modern Healthcare reports.

According to data from the University of Southern California, participation in the 340B program has grown from 8,100 providers in 2000 to 50,000 in 2020. Hospitals that serve a high number of low-income patients, those designated as critical access facilities, children’s and cancer hospitals,...