Last week, CBSA co-hosted an educational event for legislators and other stakeholders in partnership with PhRMA and Colorado Politics. The event featured a panel discussion that addressed the drivers of costs in Colorado’s healthcare system, specifically focused on costs related to the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program, health system consolidation, and vertical integration in the system. The conversation referenced the latest data and considered solutions that could improve access for vulnerable Colorado communities to prescribed medicines purchased through hospitals and their contract pharmacies – and pathways to saving employer, patient, and systemic state costs. 

An article from Colorado Politics explains the issues and data highlighted by the panelists and how “a program developed in the 1990s allowing healthcare organizations to purchase discounted outpatient drugs to help low-income patients has grown into a system of abuse and misuse without government oversight.” 

CBSA’s Vice President and Counsel for Policy + Advocacy, Amy Goodman, gave opening remarks at the event, saying that Colorado can and should do more to protect the bioscience and healthcare ecosystems and the patients they serve. The federal 340B Drug Pricing Program will be a hot topic during Colorado’s upcoming legislative session and it’s important to have the facts. 

Due to the massive growth of this well-intentioned program, it is now the second-largest drug program behind Medicare—and there are serious questions about whether it’s actually benefitting the patients it was intended to help. In Colorado, 64 hospitals participate in the 340B program, and PhRMA estimates there are 1,118 contracts between Colorado 340B hospitals and pharmacies nationwide. Nationally, the number of contract pharmacies participating has grown by 8,000% since 2010. However, “[a]ccording to PhRMA data, hospitals in Colorado make 2.8 times as much from 340B as they spend on charity care.” Plus, while some may claim there is no cost to taxpayers, employers, or the state of Colorado, recent studies point to hidden costs and program abuses. 

You can read the full article from Colorado Politics here.  

CBSA will continue to actively engage on this issue on the state and federal levels. If you are interested in learning more about or contributing to CBSA’s advocacy efforts, please reach out to CBSA’s Vice President and Counsel for Policy + Advocacy, Amy Goodman.