Attorney General Becerra Leads Bipartisan Coalition on 340B Drug Pricing Program Requirements

Multiple large drug manufacturers are refusing to provide mandated drug discounts to healthcare providers that serve low-income and uninsured Americans

SACRAMENTO - California Attorney General Xavier Becerra today joined Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson in leading a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to hold accountable drug manufacturers that are unlawfully refusing to provide discounts to federally qualified health centers, hospitals, and other providers that serve vulnerable patient populations through the 340B Drug Pricing Program. The 340B Drug Pricing Program provides discounts to covered healthcare entities that serve uninsured and low-income patients, and helps these providers keep costs low even as prescription drug prices rise. In today's letter addressed to Health & Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, the attorneys general argue that by withholding or threatening to withhold these critical discounts, drug manufacturers Eli Lilly & Company, AstraZeneca PLC, Sanofi SA, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Merck & Co., United Therapeutics Corp., and others, put low-income patients at risk of losing access to affordable medications while communities continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. The 340B Drug Pricing Program has strong bipartisan support, and Congress has acted numerous times to ensure drug manufacturers continue to comply with the program's mandates.

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