Patient Affordability and Debt Collection Policies at 340B Program Hospitals

About this dataset:

Section 340B of the U.S. Public Health Service Act requires that pharmaceutical manufacturers give discounts on specified drugs provided by hospitals participating in the 340B drug pricing program. A major stated goal of the 340B program is to allow hospitals that serve low-income patients to expand services to those patients.   The law applies to a range of covered entities, but in general it applies to 340B program hospitals providing services to low-income or otherwise underserved communities. In theory, when hospitals pay less for covered drugs, they may pass those price reductions onto patients who might otherwise not be able to afford treatment at full price. But there are no measures built into the program to assure that 340B program funds are being used to support care for low-income populations specific requirement in the law that hospitals’ savings from the discount program be passed along to patients or reinvested in providing more free or discounted care, often referred to as charity care, or otherwise expanding access for low-income patients. One method to gain insight into the type of care provided for low-income patients and to understand how hospitals spend 340B funds is to examine financial assistance aimed at low-income patients and related debt collection policies at hospitals participating in the 340B program.   

This dataset is cross-sectional and captures policies as of July 1, 2026. It details elements of 340B hospital patient financial assistance policies (FAP) and related debt collection policies at 75 United States 340B hospitals that generated the most revenue based on hospital fiscal data available through 2022.  

Funding for this project was provided by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).