Judge Nixes 340B Injunction; Legislative Efforts Struggle

A U.S. District Court Judge on December 29 ruled against hospitals’ request for an injunction again a CMS regulation that takes effect January 1, 2018 that cuts 340B drug payments under Medicare Part B (click here for the 16-page ruling). The payment cut is 28.5%. Basically, the judge said the hospitals didn’t have standing because the rule had not yet taken effect. The judge suggested that at a later time, once the ruling takes effect, that it could be brought to the court once again. On the legislative front, a growing number of key congressional Republicans are now raising questions about any type of a 340B regulatory moratorium without the imposition of new transparency and reporting requirements. A new drug company-backed bill was introduced (click here) by Reps. Larry Bucshon (R-IN) and Scott Peters (D-CA) that would do just that. Click here for Rep. Bucshon's statement.  Rep. McKinley's (R-WV) bill that only imposes a one-year moratorium on all 340B regs from CMS gained nearly 20 new cosponsors in the past week (now 167). Click here for the updated list.