Faces of 340B

Debbie Scott, Uriah, AL

When colon cancer struck Debbie in 2010, both she and her husband were out of work – and uninsured. It was frightening news, made all the worse by the specter of colossal medical bills. After surgery, Scott started a 6-month round of chemo in early 2011 at Monroe County Hospital in Monroeville, AL, still unsure how she would be able to pay for the treatment. As it turned out, that wasn’t a problem. The hospital’s pharmacy director, Cynthia Martens, quickly connected Scott with the Monroe County Health Foundation, a nonprofit launched by a local cancer survivor. The foundation paid for her care, and Martens charged the group the discounted 340B rate for chemo medication to make it affordable. “That was a humongous load off my shoulders,” says Scott. “Thank God for this program or I would have been scared to death.” Everybody wins. The 340B program allowed the hospital to help a patient in need. It lowered the cost of care for the foundation. And Scott is now cancer free. “I’m doing wonderful,” she says. “Fat and sassy.”