Title
Welcome and The State of 340B, followed by 340B Update from Office of Pharmacy Affairs
Room/Location
Marriott Ballroom 1-9
Description
Welcome and The State of 340B
2021 was a year marked by great turmoil for the health care system and those who care for patients in need in our nation. The continuing global pandemic has killed more than 800,000 people in the U.S., sickened millions more, and strained many health facilities and providers to their breaking points. Through it all, the hospitals, health centers, and clinics that participate in 340B - and those who support them in that work - have played an invaluable role in the national response to the public health emergency. In part due to program savings, the community has maintained its patient health mission even in the face of unprecedented challenges on the legal, legislative, and regulatory fronts. These include not only COVID-related stresses but also escalating attacks on program savings through the actions of some drugmakers, health insurers, PBMs, and their allies. Still, bipartisan support for the 340B program among lawmakers, administration officials, and other policymakers has never been higher. And the 340B community remains united, strong, and committed to a healthy future for the program for the benefit of all patients in need.
This plenary session will review some of the numerous major developments that occurred in the 340B world in 2021, reflect on the first year of a new administration and a new Congress, describe the status of ongoing challenges for safety-net providers and their patients, underscore how successful advocacy efforts can lead to positive outcomes, call attention to the continuing pursuit of care equity in our health system, and look forward with optimism for a better year based on the fortitude of our shared mission.
Learning Objectives:
- Assess major 340B developments that occurred in 2021, particularly in the ongoing dispute over 340B contract pharmacy arrangements
Analyze the 340B implications of recent actions in federal courts, on Capitol Hill, and in statehouses
- Review how a broad coalition of 340B professionals, policymakers, patient advocates, and others have united around the protection and preservation of the 340B program
340B Update from Office of Pharmacy Affairs
Two senior government officials responsible for the operation and oversight of the 340B drug pricing program will be addressing the 340B Coalition Winter Conference.
Admiral Krista Pedley is the Director of the Office of Special Health Initiatives in the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). OSHI provides a crosscutting focal point for HRSA to deliver on population health and Secretarial priorities, especially those that may be more clinical in nature. Specifically, OSHI coordinates and collaborates with components in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that align with the work of OSHI; serves as the principal advisor within HRSA on global health issues; provides agency-wide leadership and policy development in the administration of the 340B Drug Pricing Program to promote access to clinically and cost effective pharmacy services to the country’s most vulnerable patient populations; serves as the lead on behavioral health issues that span HRSA; and provides cross-cutting leadership on HRSA oral health programs. Admiral Pedley served as Director of the Office of Pharmacy Affairs from 2010 to 2021.
Michelle Herzog is the Acting Director of the Office of Pharmacy Affairs, which is responsible for the administration of the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Prior to joining the office, she was the program manager for the State Health Access Program. Ms. Herzog has held several other positions in HRSA including Principal Staff Liaison to the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines and senior public health analyst with the former Division of Healthcare Preparedness. She has spent a total of 30 years working in the Health Resources and Services Administration. She completed the USDA’s Graduate School year long Women’s Executive Leadership Program where she had the opportunity to work at the General Services Administration developing an information management system and with the Office for Personnel Management on the President’s Award for Quality program.