This message is from our national partner orgnanization the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). :

The original Senate health reform bill (HR 3590), passed on March 23, included an expansion of 340B availability to critical access hospitals, rural referral centers, sole community hospitals, free-standing cancer hospitals, and children’s hospitals. In the follow-up legislation, the House Reconciliation bill (HR 4872), however, a couple of changes to the 340B section were included at the last minute to the originally passed Senate bill. One of these changes was the elimination of newly-eligible hospitals’ ability to utilize the 340B program for what are classified as orphan drugs, or drugs intended to treat very rare forms of disease. These typically very expensive orphan drugs, of which the FDA currently classifies about 300, are grouped into two categories: 1) Being used to treat diseases affecting less than 200,000 patients nationwide, or 2) being so expensive to produce that its costs exceed the overall sales generated.

This change, to disallow the newly eligible 340B hospitals from receiving orphan drugs at the program’s discounted rate, could make a huge impact on rural hospitals ability to treat patients with cancer or other rare diseases. Furthermore, because of the limitations the 340B program puts on participating hospitals’ ability to use group purchasing organizations, these hospitals could be paying even more for orphan drugs than prior to health reform.

Therefore a legislative fix to reverse this change is needed. As part of a tax extenders bill being currently developed in the House and Senate, there is a slight window of opportunity to include this fix to allow the newly eligible 340B hospitals’ ability to receive orphan drugs at the program’s discounted rate.

We need your help urging House and Senate members to support a legislative correction to the 340B prescription drug discount program expansion to Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Referral Centers, Sole Community Hospitals, Children’s hospitals and free-standing cancer hospitals included as part of the health reform bill. If you have regular contact with your House or Senate member’s health staffer(s) or Senate HELP, Senate Finance, House Ways and Means, or House Energy and Commerce staff, please call or email them to let them know how important this is for rural patients and providers.

Senator Bennet is on the Senate HELP Committee: 202-224-5852 or 303-455-7600. His healthcare staffer is Rohini Ravindran: rohini_ravindran@bennet.senate.gov

Diana DeGette is the Vice-Chairman on the House Energy & Commerce Committee: 202-225-4431 or 303-844-4988. Her healthcare staffer is Heather Foster: heather.foster@mail.house.gov