Health

HHS must stop cutting 340B until 2022, judge rules


The Department of Health and Human Services must restore the full 340 billion drug payments for the remainder of this year, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras’ decision for the District of Columbia is the latest blow to the Department of Health and Human Services’ efforts to limit spending on the 340B Drug Pricing Program and following the ruling. of the Supreme Court in June ordering HHS to compensate the providers. for the lower payment of 340 billion they had received in previous years.

The 2022 reimbursement rate is “in error,” and omitting this part of the 2022 Outpatient Futures Payment System rule “will not cause significant disruption,” Contreras wrote. Plaintiffs are required to go to court to decide how HHS will fix the 2018 through 2021 payment disparity at a later date.

The American Hospital Association, Essential Hospitals of America and the Association of American Medical Colleges, the plaintiffs in the case, and the trade group 340B Health welcomed the court’s decision. HHS did not respond to a request for comment.

“We continue to urge the authorities to promptly reimburse all hospitals affected by these illegal cuts in previous years and to ensure the rest of the hospital sector is not penalized. because of their previous unlawful policy,” Melinda Hatton, general counsel and secretary for the American Hospital Association, said in a press release.

In 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services slashed 340B reimbursements by nearly 30% and reallocated $1.6 billion in savings across all hospitals, rather than just serving patients who didn’t. insured and uninsured.

Program 340B offers eligible hospitals that treat uninsured patients up to 50% off drug prices. According to University of Southern California data, the number of participants has increased dramatically over the past two decades from 8,100 at the beginning of this century to 50,000 in 2020.

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that HHS must not change the 340B reimbursement rate without first examining the hospital’s acquisition costs. The judges declared the department’s 2018 and 2019 reimbursement rates to be unlawful.

Following the high court ruling, CMS announced it would default to reimbursement for drugs at the same rate as non-340B drugs, sparking outrage among participating hospitals. The remedy for this decision was directed to the district court.

“The court had previously observed that the clerk ‘mildly violated the text of the Medicare Act’ and that ‘there was no reason why a re-adjustment would allow the clerk to re-execute the rate of 340B. in the same way.’… That is true now,” wrote Contreras in his comments.

Shahid Zaman, policy director at Essential Hospitals of America, said in a press release: “We expect a 5-year remedial favorable resolution and billions of dollars in cuts in hospitals 340B.

HHS argued ignoring the reduction in Medicare payments would create budget neutrality issues because the government redistributed funds that would go to 340B hospitals, Contreras acknowledged. “That disruption will be minimal, because HHS acknowledges that skipping the 340B return rate for the rest of 2022 will account for” only a fraction of the overall time period challenged in action. this,” the judge wrote.



Source link

news7g

News7g: Update the world's latest breaking news online of the day, breaking news, politics, society today, international mainstream news .Updated news 24/7: Entertainment, Sports...at the World everyday world. Hot news, images, video clips that are updated quickly and reliably

Related Articles

Back to top button