SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — Community health centers in Illinois are asking state lawmakers to protect a program that heavily discounts prescription drugs.
The 340B program allows centers across the nation to buy drugs at a discounted rate from manufacturers. The centers then use profits from patient’s insurance to fund services like free colonoscopies and mobile clinics.
Heather Burton, the president and CEO of Central Counties Health Centers said that amounts to nearly $1 million of their annual operating budget, which helps them fund different programs to serve their community.
"For example, for our patients when they’re not able to get here, well, we’re able to give them free bus tokens so they can get here," Burton said. "Lots of little programs like that."
Burton said pharmaceutical companies have tried to restrict the program, by limiting the number of pharmacies a community health center can partner, or in some cases removing a drug from the program.
"It seems like every week we’re getting emails from some pharmaceutical company or another telling us that they’re no longer providing this drug or that drug," she said. "And so lots of the life saving medications that our patients rely on are no longer available."
A bill in the Illinois statehouse would prevent pharmaceutical companies from cutting back on which drugs are covered, and limiting the number of pharmacies they can partner with. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) and Rep. Anna Moeller (D-Elgin).
“Patients need to know they can get the prescription care they depend on, and our health centers need the support from 340B participation to serve our communities best,” said Ollie Idowu, the President and CEO of Illinois Primary Health Care Association. “The Illinois Patient Access to 340B Pharmacy Protection Act is a critical step forward for patient care in underserved communities across our state."
It also lets uninsured people get their prescriptions for much less money. Burton said when some drugs are no longer a part of 340B, patients with multiple chronic conditions need to choose which one of their prescriptions they can fill. She knows of one patient who had serious consequences because he couldn’t afford his prescription.
"That patient, some of his medications were no longer offered through 340B, so the patient had to decide which medication he was going to purchase," Burton said. "He picked and ended up in the hospital a couple of weeks later with heart issues because he wasn’t able to get the all of the medications that he needed."
Other states have laws protecting 340B pharmacies including Maryland, Kansas, and Louisiana.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents biopharmaceutical research companies, has been critical of the federal program, saying in November 2024 "illegal abuse" of 340B raises costs for patients, employers and taxpayers.
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via WCIA.com https://www.wcia.com
March 18, 2025 at 10:57AM
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