The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration is seeking to penalize Boehringer Ingelheim for curtailing discounts to a federal program that provides medicines at reduced prices to hospitals and clinics serving low-income populations, the latest in a string of such notices.
The notice comes amid an ongoing clash over the 340B drug discount program, which requires drug companies to offer discounts that are typically estimated to be 25% to 50% — but could be higher — on all outpatient drugs to hospitals and clinics that primarily serve lower-income patients. There are approximately 12,400 entities participating in the program, a number that has grown substantially in recent years.
But in 2020, several drugmakers began eliminating some discounts when hospitals or clinics bought medicines and then shipped them to contracted retail or specialty pharmacies for patients to pick up or for delivery, instead of using their own in-house pharmacies. The drug companies alleged using contract pharmacies led to abuses, such as duplicate billings, product diversions, and ineligible rebates.
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