CMS Announces 340B Reimbursement Cuts with Rural Exemptions
NRHA is pleased that CMS recognizes the critical importance of the 340B drug program to rural Sole Communities Hospitals and has protected these rural hospitals from payment cuts implemented in the Outpatient Prospective Payment System final rule released yesterday. The 340B Drug Discount Program is a life-line for so many rural hospitals who financially struggle, and has allowed rural facilities to maintain vital services such as cancer treatments and obstetrics care to rural patients nation-wide.
In brief, the 340B Program is critical to the viability of rural hospitals across the nation, who have endured continuous reimbursement cuts and operate on the narrowest of financial margins. It can also mean the difference of whether a financial struggling rural hospital stays open or is forced to close its doors. Without such funding, the rural hospital closure crisis will severely escalate.
More must be done. Not all rural hospitals are protected in this exemption. Many rural PPS hospitals may still be threatened by these cuts. What the Administration must understand is that since 2010, eighty-two rural hospitals have closed; 65% of these closures were rural PPS hospitals. At the same time, a third of all remaining rural hospitals are vulnerable to closure and many of these vulnerable hospitals participate in the 340B program. NRHA is heartened that CMS quoted NRHA comments extensively in the final rule as the rationale for exempting Sole Community Hospitals. We now pledge to work with you and continue the fight to protect the 340B program for ALL rural providers.