Children's hospitals, other medical centers now eligible for discounted drugs in Medicaid

The Hill: "Children's hospitals and other medical centers on Monday became eligible to enroll in a Medicaid program that offers discounted drugs, as called for in the healthcare reform law. As many as 1,500 additional hospitals — including children's hospitals, free-standing cancer centers, critical access hospitals, rural referral centers and sole community hospitals — are now eligible for the 340B program, which provides discounts on brand-name drugs to facilities that serve poor people. ... HHS estimates the facilities will be able to save an average of 20 percent to 50 percent of the cost for covered drugs thanks to the program" (Pecquet, 8/2).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.