The Trump administration is proposing a change that would reduce Medicare payment rates in a program that hospitals use to buy discounted drugs. The administration says that it could save people with Medicare coverage $1.15 billion and save taxpayers an estimated $4.55 billion, “for total reduced drugs spending of approximately $5.7 billion in 2027 alone.”
The proposed rule would apply to hospitals in what’s known as the 340B program, which lets those hospitals buy prescription drugs at discounted prices. The administration “would cut by roughly 40% that amount that hospitals in the discounted drug program could be paid through Medicare programs,” Josh Boak of the Associated Press reports.
Ashley Thompson, senior vice president at the American Hospital Association, told the AP that the proposal would hurt hospital finances: “These proposals will undermine the ability of hospitals to maintain essential services and protect affordable access to care for those who depend on the 340B program.”