STAT+: Sales from controversial drug discount program rose to $66 billion last year

Prescription medicines purchased in the U.S. under a controversial government discount program amounted to $66.3 billion in 2023, a 23.4% increase from the previous year, according to the Health Resources & Services Administration, which oversees the program.

The data mark a steady rise in sales under the 340B Drug Discount Program, which requires drugmakers to offer discounts that are typically estimated to be 25% to 50% — but could be higher — off all outpatient drugs to hospitals and clinics that primarily serve lower-income patients. There are more than 12,000 entities participating in the program, a number that has grown substantially.

Since it began more than 30 years ago, the program has ballooned and fed into the national clash over the cost of medicines. Some $38 billion in prescription medications were purchased under the 340B program in 2020, for instance, which was up from $16.2 billion in 2016. And this fast-paced trajectory has triggered a battle between the pharmaceutical and hospital industries.

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