Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Jeff Davis was interviewed on the HIMSSCast podcast discussing recent updates in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. The program began in the early 1990s and was intended to help healthcare providers serving vulnerable patient populations by providing them with access to drugs at discount prices. On the podcast, Jeff discussed the history of the 340B Drug Pricing Program and the recent proposals by some drug manufacturers to switch from an upfront drug discount model to a rebate model.
When asked about the impact to providers in switching to a rebate model, Jeff said providers were concerned about having to float the cash between the initial purchase and receipt of a rebate and the added administrative burden that would be required to submit rebate requests with the necessary data. However, as Jeff noted, “Perhaps the bigger concern was that manufacturers would then have the control to review that data and decide whether they believed that claim was for a 340B-eligible drug or not using their own definition of 340B eligibility. And some of the manufacturers were pretty transparent that they intended to deny rebate requests if they disagreed it was a 340B-eligible claim. Ultimately, the concern being these rebate models could result in a shrinking of the program.”
On July 31, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced the availability of a 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program that will allow drug manufacturers to provide 340B-discounted drug prices using a rebate model in limited cases starting January 1, 2026, with some parameters for drug manufacturers.
Jeff also talked about how this new Rebate Model Pilot Program benefits both drug manufacturers and providers. In talking about providers specifically, Jeff said, “Providers are appreciative of at least the fact that if there are going to be rebates allowed under this Pilot Program that there are these limits in place limiting the drugs to only those that are selected for negotiations and preventing manufacturers from denying rebates based on compliance concerns.”
The full episode, “HIMSSCast: A look at the new 340B rebate model issues by HRSA’s Office of Pharmacy Affairs,” was released by HIMSS on August 29 and is available online or wherever you get your podcast content. A recap of the podcast was also provided in the Healthcare Finance News article, “HIMSSCast: New 340B rebate model is still a rebate model.”
For more on this topic, Jeff co-authored the content “HRSA Unveils Pilot Program to Allow Limited 340B Drug Rebate Models,” outlining the recent updates.