340 B Program Overview

In 1992, Congress created the Public Health Service 340B drug discount program to help certain qualified safety net providers obtain lower-cost pharmaceuticals for poor and underserved patients. The program currently provides discounts on drugs only for patients seen in outpatient hospital settings. Efforts are being made to extend the program to provide discounts to pharmaceuticals provided to patients who are admitted to the hospital as inpatients.

NAPH works closely with Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access (SNHPA), an organization of more than 400 public and private non-profit hospitals and health systems throughout the U.S. working to increase pharmaceutical availability for low-income and underserved patients.

NAPH supports the expansion of the 340B drug pricing program to include discounts on inpatient drugs. Maintaining two separate inventories of pharmaceuticals – one for discounted outpatient drugs and one for non-discounted inpatient drugs – is inefficient. Savings from extending the discount to inpatient pharmaceuticals will enhance the ability of safety net providers to ensure access to care for vulnerable patients.