North Carolina’s treasurer is calling out non-profit hospitals across the state for not passing along savings from a federal medical program to patients.
"They're putting profits over patients,” said North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell.
The Federal Safety-Net 340B Drug Pricing was set up to help providers offer service to low-income patients and rural communities. Under the program, hospitals can buy most outpatient drugs with an average 35 percent discount from drug manufacturers.
But the hospitals have no legal obligation to pass those discounts on to their patients or to invest the savings in care for vulnerable communities.
Folwell said he’s tried to reach out to hospital CEOs to discuss the issue, but they haven’t been willing to talk and instead have issued written statements about the concerns.
He said, "Any public official who is unwilling to talk to anyone about any of the serious problems that are facing our society right now and refuses to do so should resign.”
Many 340B hospitals are pocketing the difference, Folwell said, and "The discount should be passed on to the patients.”
And he compared leaders of those hospitals to a crime syndicate.
“When people have a fear of getting the procedure because of the fear of the bill, where they have poor track records of matching their charity care with the billions of dollars of tax benefits, when they put liens on people's houses and break their kneecaps for not paying their bill, we are a long way away from solving these problems ... but that's how cartels work,” Folwell said.
The treasurer said 340B hospitals charged state employees “massive markups” for oncology drugs, and generated oversized profits on cancer drugs paid for by the North Carolina State Health Plan for teachers and state employees.
Folwell said the program was not intended to pad the salaries of hospital leadership.
