HEALTH
State Delays Changes to 340B Drug Discount Program
Nixed plans would have impacted people living with HIV, homeless folks
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
Local healthcare providers
and non-profi ts
are breathing a collective
sigh of relief after
the state agreed to delay plans to
overhaul the federal 340B drug
discount program, which requires
drugmakers to give medication to
certain providers at discounted
rates.
Advocates long warned that
changes to the program would
have wreaked havoc on vulnerable
populations — including individuals
living with HIV/AIDS as well
as homeless folks. Organizations
impacted by the program include
community health non-profi ts,
homeless shelter providers, and
safety net hospitals, which offer
services to individuals regardless
of ability to pay.
Under the 340B program, pharmaceutical
companies participating
in Medicaid sell discounted
drugs to managed care providers,
who are then able to save money
and repurpose those funds toward
other services, including statewide
vaccinations efforts, COVID-19 outreach,
and education. A proposed
340B carve-out last year drew
stinging criticism from advocates
who stressed that the changes
would have stripped savings from
providers and reallocated them to
the state as part of a fee-for-service
model.
The state budget passed earlier
this month included an agreement
to push the looming 340B “carveout”
to at least April 1, 2023.
“The delay means that we will
continue to have access to the
$1.5 million-$2 million in annual
savings that we receive from the
federal 340B drug discount program,”
said Jacquelyn Kilmer, the
CEO of Harlem United, which offers
housing, healthcare, testing,
vocational services, and other services
to more than 10,000 clients
per year. “This money allows us to
provide critically necessary outreach
and transportation services
to the communities we serve to get
them into care and retain them in
Housing Works, which operates thrift shops to support its health and housing services, aggressively
resisted the state’s proposed 340B changes.
Harlem United CEO Jacquelyn Kilmer.
care.”
Kilmer said the delay also gives
Harlem United more time to work
towards a more robust deal with
the state.
MATT TRACY
HARLEM UNITED
“We advocated for — and will
continue to advocate for — a full
repeal of the carve-out,” Kilmer
said. “This two-year delay gives
us the time to work together in
partnership with the Legislature,
the governor’s offi ce, and the State
Department of Health to achieve
the policy objectives that the
carve-out was intended to address
without decimating the safety net
system that is so critical to address
the health and well-being of
New York’s most vulnerable communities.”
Kimberleigh J. Smith, the senior
director for community health
planning and policy at Callen-
Lorde Community Health Center,
applauded the budget’s outcome
for patients and employees.
“By protecting 340B revenues,
we are protecting life-saving health
care services for thousands of our
patients who trust us as a community
based health care provider,”
Smith said in a written statement.
“We are also protecting scores of
critical health care jobs. The delay
will allow us to refocus our efforts
on delivering vaccines to our patients
in greatest need, and to continue
working towards ending the
HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York
State.”
Doug Wirth, the CEO of Amida
Care, a private non-profi t community
health plan serving many
queer New Yorkers, said this decision
is critical in dismantling
health disparities among low-income
communities.
“Amida Care celebrates the twoyear
delay of the Medicaid pharmacy
carve-out, which preserves
our whole-person model of care,”
Wirth said in a written statement.
“The proposed reform would have
harmed millions of New Yorkers
by changing how they access their
prescription drugs.”
Jaron Benjamin, the vice president
for community mobilization
at Housing Works, which serves
New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS
and experiencing homelessness,
said this funding is critical for
providing “life-saving healthcare
interventions” but is always in
danger.
“We know that in a few years,
this will be revisited,” Benjamin
told Gay City News. “We still got
our work cut out for us.”
April 22 - May 5,10 2021 | GayCityNews.com
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