Media Briefing: Why Community Health Centers Must Defend The 340B Drug Discount Program Against Manufacturer Attacks

BETHESDA, Md., Sept. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, September 16, at 11:30 a.m. EDT Community Health Center leaders from around the country will discuss the vital importance of the federal 340B drug discount program. Health centers provide life-saving medicines and services to low-income patients through the 340B program. Yet a series of broadside attacks from manufacturers will dismantle the program and force patients to pay higher costs and reduce access to prescriptions, all at a time when health centers are serving as the front line in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of Congress are circulating a letter of support condemning these actions and calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to take measures immediately that will halt manufacturer sabotage and ensure the survival of the 340B program.

Health centers serve nearly 30 million patients nationwide, including veterans, people who have lost their jobs and health insurance in the economic decline and essential workers infected with non-acute COVID-19. The cost of medicines can easily push them further into poverty, disease, and even death. 

Established in 1971, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) serves as the national voice for America's Health Centers and as an advocate for health care access for the medically underserved and uninsured.

SOURCE National Association of Community Health Centers