However, today the program falls far short of achieving that goal. With no meaningful oversight, 340B has contributed to America’s health inequities rather than address them. Large health systems buy 340B medications at steep discounts – sometimes for as little as a penny – then mark up the drugs and resell them for profit. But patients never see the savings. 

To make matters worse, some state lawmakers are pushing legislation that would hand more power to chain pharmacies, allowing them to profit from discounted medicines while doing nothing to help those in need. And the health systems who profit are encouraging them! This approach is severely misguided and only deepens health inequities.

Follow the Money: Who Really Benefits from 340B?

• 340B corporate deals – called contract pharmacy arrangements – exploded by over 5,000% in the last 14 years. 
• Contract pharmacies aka big pharmacy chains like CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart, along with insurance middlemen such as Express Scripts and Optum Rx, pulled $3 billion out of the 340B program last year.
• The number of 340B pharmacies in historically Black, Latino, and lower-income neighborhoods dropped from 2011-2019, while growing in wealthier areas instead.
• Well over half of 340B hospitals' off-site clinics and pharmacies aren’t even located in the same ZIP code as the qualifying hospital they’re connected to – instead they are planted in communities where the average income is 30% higher.
• Roughly two-thirds of 340B health systems provide less charity care than the national average for all hospitals. Some spend less on charity care than the value of their tax breaks.

Community Voices Demand Change

“It’s been thirty years since Congress created the drug discount program, and it rightly enjoys bipartisan support. But making sure the program is improving health equity, not doubling down on a system that enriches already wealthy neighborhoods at the expense of poor underserved communities, should be a top priority.” - Rev. Al Sharpton

“Inadvertent loopholes have been utilized, increasing profit margins for the hospital system while they have reduced services in one of our predominantly Black communities. It is immoral to benefit off the backs of Black and Brown residents under the guise of healthcare, and it must cease immediately.” - Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney

Fixing 340B for the People Who Need It

Right now, health systems are not required to use their 340B profits to help low-income patients afford medicine—and many don’t even include prescription assistance in their financial aid policies. As a result, abuse of the 340B program is rampant.

We must demand real reform to ensure 340B benefits the communities it was meant to help—vulnerable populations in underserved areas. Discounts should go to patients, not corporate profits.