March 22, 2023

New York-New Jersey Chapter Advocates for 340B Legislation 

Readers may recall from the previous issue of the Voice that there is a legislative proposal that would protect critical 340B funding for safety-net providers, save health care and services, preserve local jobs, and save taxpayer dollars across New York state.

Senate bill 5136 (Rivera) would repeal the statutory language passed in 2020 directing the Department of Health to transition the Medicaid pharmacy benefit from managed care to fee-for-service (the “carve-out”) and replace it with language that maintains the reimbursement mechanism under the federal drug discount program known as 340B. Most importantly, this legislation would 1) Achieve the State’s policy objectives, 2) Save New York’s already under-resourced health care safety net, and 3) Protect the health and well-being of New York’s most vulnerable and medically underserved populations. The legislation was included in the Senate’s budget proposal, and the Assembly’s budget proposal called for a full repeal of the carve-out policy.

In response, the Academy’s New York-New Jersey Chapter sent a letter to members of the state legislature, asking for each of them to support the legislative proposal. The full letter can be viewed here.

Without adoption of S.5136 or a full repeal of the proposal, the pharmacy carve-out will go into effect on April 1, 2023, and likely will decimate New York’s safety net system through its impact on the federal 340B drug discount program. The 340B reimbursement mechanism funds critical health care for 2.3 million New Yorkers who receive care at community health centers and Ryan White HIV/AIDS program sites statewide. We know that any threat to the safety net system will disproportionately impact New Yorkers who are Black and people of color, New Yorkers with low incomes, immigrants, the uninsured, and those who already experience extreme health disparities—the very people most in need of the services provided by the safety net system.

If you are a New York provider and would like to urge your state senator and assemblyperson to support S.5136 and save 340B, please find their contact information here.