The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told the United States District Court it will, within the next few weeks, pay for drugs provided to Medicare enrollees on an outpatient basis by 340B hospitals at the restored payment rate of average sales price plus 6%. The Court ruled earlier that HHS could not wait until the beginning of the upcoming fiscal year to make the change. This is following the US Supreme Court ruling that HHS’ 30% Medicare reduction of payments for drugs provided by 340B hospitals was unlawful. WSHA submitted an amicus brief supporting the suit challenging the cuts.
We do not yet know the details regarding how the adjustment will be made but believe it will likely be applied prospectively. It has not yet been determined how HHS will address past claims that were subjected to the reduced payments or how HHS will address the budget neutrality adjustment applied along with the cuts. WSHA and the American Hospital Association have advocated that no hospitals should be subject to reductions or recoupment as a result of HHS applying the unlawful cuts. (Andrew Busz, AndrewB@wsha.org).
