John Thune: “the rising cost of prescription drugs has squeezed not only the budgets of American consumers but also the budgets of…”

“the rising cost of prescription drugs has squeezed not only the budgets of American consumers but also the budgets of America's health care providers. The rural hospitals in my State of South Dakota serve as a lifeline to thousands of constituents living in medically underserved areas. They cannot afford to have the cost of their inpatient and outpatient drugs rising faster than the rate of inflation. In 1992, Congress created the 340B program to lower the cost of drugs purchased by a limited number of entities serving a high number of low- income and uninsured individuals, such as federally qualified health care centers and nonprofit hospitals providing care to a disproportionate share of Medicaid patients. Under the 340B program, pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to provide eligible 340B entities discounts on outpatient drugs as part of the manufacturers' Medicaid participation agreement. The rising cost of prescription drugs has created the need to modify the 340B program and extend these discounts to the inpatient side of disproportionate share hospitals, as well as to critical access hospitals. Today, I and my colleague from New Mexico, Mr. Bingaman, are providing relief on the cost of drugs purchased by America's health care providers by introducing the Safety Net Inpatient Drug Affordability Act.…”