Washington, DC (NAPSI) - Many Americans are asking their
representatives what’s being done about a well-intentioned
health care cost-cutting program that’s actually having the
opposite effect.   The Problem  The program, called 340B, is now
used by many hospitals to get discounts on medicines for insured
patients. The hospitals then pocket the
difference—unfortunately, they are not required to pass on
savings to patients—and use it to fund executive salaries and
other unintended uses. As the Affordable Care Act expands
Medicaid eligibility, more patients on Medicaid will mean more
hospitals are eligible for discounts.  Additionally, some
hospitals with the benefit of 340B discounts are buying up—or
partnering with—private clinics, which would not on their own
qualify for discounts.  According to The Journal of the American
Medical Association (JAMA), this drives up the cost of care. For
example, JAMA says, the widening disparity in drug revenue
between 340B and non-340B hospitals shifts patients out of the
co