6 days ago
Lawmakers push for transparency in 340B program
Beat Memo
New York lawmakers are looking to create transparency in a drug rebate program offered to hospitals serving low-income communities, with a state mandate to report how the federal program's revenue is used, POLITICO Pro's Katelyn Cordero reports.
The legislation — which is the Assembly Health Committee and expected to be introduced in the Senate in the coming days — would require hospitals participating in the 340B drug discount program to report their use of funds acquired through the program to the state Department of Health.
The program's original intent was to have safety-net hospitals invest the profits back into the community or pass savings directly to patients, but lawmakers have raised concerns about where the money is actually going.
'It's just a pretty straightforward transparency bill reporting on information that, in theory, should otherwise already be available,' bill sponsor Assemblymember Amanda Septimo told POLITICO. 'So it's really compiling and sharing information, not necessarily new data collection. We don't expect it to be burdensome.'
A separate piece of legislation reintroduced in January, known as the 340B Prescription Drug Anti-Discrimination Act, would bar pharmaceutical companies from imposing administrative requirements that could discourage providers from participating in the program.
Septimo said such an expansion of the program should only be considered with the proper guardrails in place.
'The (bills) should work in tandem,' she said. 'It's difficult to make a meaningful case for the expansion of something when you don't have any meaningful data to report, with respect to how it's working as it exists.'
The legislation introduced by Septimo in March would require that hospitals report all 340B savings and payments associated with drugs in the program, as well as the total number of prescriptions and the percentage of prescriptions covered by the program. The Department of Health would be required to post the collected data on a public site.
Hospitals would be required to report data on the program by April 1, 2026.
IN OTHER NEWS:
— One Brooklyn Health is partnering with NYU Langone to expand access to kidney transplants in Brooklyn.
The health system's new program will offer transplant evaluations, clinical testing and specialist consultations to patients with advanced kidney disease at Brookdale Hospital. Patients will also receive support from social workers, financial counselors and a care navigator.
— Gov. Kathy Hochul announced four appointments to the newly restructured board of the Nassau Health Care Corporation, which oversees the financially struggling Nassau University Medical Center on Long Island: Stuart Rabinowitz, Amy Flores, Dean Mihaltses and Lisa Warren.
Under a new state law that took effect Sunday, the corporation is subject to several new oversight measures and must submit a study by Dec. 1, 2026, exploring options to strengthen the medical center.
ON THE AGENDA:
— Wednesday at 10 a.m. The Public Health and Health Planning Council's committee on establishment and project review meets.
— Thursday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The New York State Traumatic Brain Injury Services Coordinating Council meets.
MAKING ROUNDS:
— Kathleen Sikkema will serve as interim dean of the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, effective July 1. She succeeds Linda P. Fried, who previously announced plans to step down at the end of the academic year.
GOT TIPS? Send story ideas and feedback to Maya Kaufman at mkaufman@ and Katelyn Cordero at kcordero@
Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories.
What you may have missed
— Democratic lawmakers negotiated a deal with the state Education Department s last week on a measure that would expand access to birth control for New Yorkers, as the state faces provider shortages and federal attacks on reproductive health care.
Two bills moving through the Senate and Assembly are aimed at allowing pharmacists to administer birth control shots without a provider's prescription and requiring private insurance to pay pharmacists for consulting with patients seeking birth control prescriptions, POLITICO Pro's Katelyn Cordero reports.
— An issue brief by the New York Health Plan Association, which found the state mandates insurance coverage of more than 45 specific treatments or services, recommended that the state develop a process to review the cost of such requirements.
'The collective impact of mandated benefits contributes to the growth in health insurance premiums, adds to the cost of coverage for everyone – consumers, employers, union benefit funds and the state – and runs counter to efforts to make New York more affordable,' HPA President and CEO Eric Linzer said in a statement. 'Before new mandated benefits are passed, there should be a process to analyze their impact on the affordability of coverage, so that there's a clear understanding of what they cost.'
Odds and Ends
NOW WE KNOW — A new Covid strain has landed in New York.
TODAY'S TIP — Easily distracted? Here are some ways to improve your attention span.
STUDY THIS — Ending water fluoridation could cost nearly $10 billion over five years, and tooth decay would also rise, according to a Harvard analysis.
What We're Reading
— State health regulators signal support for long-awaited trauma center in the Rockaways. (Crain's New York Business)
— The dizzying rise of MAHA warrior Calley Means, RFK Jr.'s right-hand man. (Vanity Fair)
— Medicare plots ambitious tech agenda guided by former Palantir and Main Street Health executives. (STAT)
— American doctors are moving to Canada to escape the Trump administration. (KFF Health News)
Around POLITICO
— Via Carmen Paun and Robbie Gramer: State Department explains why it's reorganizing its global health security bureau.
— Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst spars with town hall crowd over Medicaid, Cheyanne M. Daniels reports.
MISSED A ROUNDUP? Get caught up on the New York Health Care Newsletter.
