STATEMENT ON FINALIZED MEDICARE CUTS TO 340B HOSPITALS IN 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C.— The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today released a final Medicare Part B payment rule that will extend pay cuts next year to many hospitals participating in the 340B drug pricing program. The 2021 Medicare outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) rule finalizes the pay rates that will be in effect Jan. 1 and will lock in cuts of nearly 30% to these safety-net hospitals. The following statement is attributed to 340B Health President and CEO Maureen Testoni:
“Amid a COVID-19 surge that again is testing the capacity of many 340B hospitals to care for all their patients in need, CMS is choosing to plow ahead with steep cuts that will only cause pain for safety-net hospitals and the low-income patients they serve. Congress approved 340B to help safety-net hospitals stretch scarce resources and serve more patients. These cuts undermine the 340B program’s purpose and do nothing to lower overall costs for Medicare patients.”
“The result of this years-long regulatory offensive against the health care safety net will be hospitals that struggle harder to care for patients with low incomes during a public health emergency when they are needed the most.”
Contact: David Glendinning at david.glendinning@340bhealth.org or 202-536-2289