CMS finalized Nov. 2 that it will provide a lump sum payment to each hospital participating in the 340B Drug Pricing Program, totaling $9 billion, to make them whole from unlawful payment cuts from 2018 to 2022.
About 1,700 hospitals are set to receive the funds by Jan. 1. To implement a required $7.8 billion budget neutrality adjustment, however, CMS will reduce future non-drug item and service payments by adjusting the Outpatient Prospective Payment System conversion factor by -0.5% beginning in 2026.
America's Essential Hospitals Senior Vice President of Policy and Advocacy Beth Feldpush, DrPH, said the organization is thankful for a timely action on a remedy but continues to disagree that CMS must recoup repayments in the name of budget neutrality.
"With essential hospitals' ongoing high labor costs and other financial challenges, final action on a plan to make repayments by early next year comes as welcome news — especially given the long delay in the proposed rule following court rulings on repayment," Dr. Feldpush said in a Nov. 2 America's Essential Hospitals news release.
Recouping repayment in the name of budget neutrality, however, will "unnecessarily blunt the impact of the remedy by ensuring years of future underpayments," she said. "While we are pleased CMS chose not to begin recoupments until 2026, we continue to urge the agency to reconsider its position."