ATLANTA — With the cost of prescription medications going up, a push is underway to keep those drugs affordable to those most in need.
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Rep. Buddy Carter held a round table discussion that included health care providers on how to improve the 340B Drug Pricing Program.
“This is an extremely important program. We need to save it, we need to sustain it,” said Carter, R-Ga.
It allows providers, especially rural hospitals, to buy drugs at discounted prices from pharmaceutical manufacturers.
“It was originally intended for our rural hospitals and federal health care centers,“ Carter said. Unfortunately, it has evolved into a program that is being used by the largest facilities to simply increase their profit and that’s not what it’s intended for.”
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The 340B program was established in 1992 to help health care providers who serve low-income and uninsured patients. It enables them to stretch resources and provide more comprehensive care.
That includes hospitals and federally qualified health care centers.
Carter, who is a pharmacist, has introduced legislation to ensure those most in need can get reliable access to affordable medications.
“What we are trying to do is have more transparency in the program, make sure the program is used for what it is intended to be used for. That is for the most vulnerable in our society,” Carter said.
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