Eli Lilly begins denying 340B discounts

 Eli Lilly has begun denying 340B drug discounts to hospitals that have not submitted claims-level data under its reporting requirements, according to a June 18 news release from the American Hospital Association. 

“AHA can confirm that Eli Lilly has taken the extraordinary action of denying 340B discounts,” AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said in the release. “Congress should immediately use its oversight authority and demand HHS take a position on drug companies’ attempts to hijack the 340B program through burdensome claims-data demands.”

In a June 18 statement to Becker’s, Eli Lilly said it sent multiple reminders and contacted covered entities individually before taking action. “We hope these hospitals reconsider their decision and submit claims data to accept Lilly’s offer of 340B pricing,” the company said.

Mr. Pollack called Lilly’s manufacturer-imposed requirements a threat to patient access to lifesaving drugs and criticized federal regulators for inaction. “HRSA and HHS cannot continue to stand by while Eli Lilly and others rewrite the rules for their own benefit and skirt their obligations,” he said.The action follows escalation that has played out over several months. The company first expanded its claims-data requirement in February to include in-house pharmacy dispensing, citing duplicate discount concerns under the Inflation Reduction Act. Then, in a June 1 letter to the Health Resources and Services Administration, Lilly gave an initial group of 340B hospitals five business days to begin submitting claims-level data for in-house pharmacy dispensing or face suspension of 340B pricing. At the time, about 70% of covered entities purchasing Lilly drugs — roughly 2,350 organizations — had already submitted data; around 1,000 had not. 

When Lilly’s June 8 deadline passed, HRSA had not taken public action, leaving noncompliant hospitals exposed to suspended pricing across Lilly’s full product portfolio. The AHA proposed what it described as a neutral, government-administered clearinghouse for data collection in a May 13 letter to Lilly; Lilly did not respond. 

340B Health, which represents more than 1,600 participating hospitals, has called Lilly’s actions a violation of the law and also urged HRSA to warn the drugmaker it faces enforcement action. 

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/pharmacy/eli-lilly-begins-denying-340b-discounts/