Dispute Develops Over Discount Drug Program by Andrew Pollack. The New York Times. February 12, 2013.
A dispute between hospitals and pharmaceutical companies about a a program known as 340B which allows a hospital to purchase drugs at a deep discount if a hospital serves poor people. The dispute centers around the fact that the hospitals are using the discounted drugs not just for poor people but for Medicare or private insurance payments. In those cases the hospitals profit from the gap between the discount price and the reimbursement. The pharmaceutical companies lose in such an arrangement and they are beginning to object. Hospitals assert that the program was never intended to support only poor people but also the general program of hospitals that treat poor patients. With the expansion of Medicaid in many states more hospitals will be eligible for the discount. Of Georgia interest is a quote from the director of pharmacy at Columbus Regional Healthcare System
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