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THE CROOKED NATURE OF HOSPITALS · Your Daily Dose

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  Speaker 1: Well, needless to say, yours truly came down with COVID
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  Speaker 1: about three days ago. After an exciting five days in
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  Speaker 1: Pittsburgh for the professional training event, it seems like a
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  Speaker 1: lot of us came down with stuff. But mine took
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  Speaker 1: it to the nth degree and went to COVID. And
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  Speaker 1: I've been treating with all of my different remedies. Ivermectin primarily.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm starting to feel better. My voice is almost
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  Speaker 1: back to normal. So bear with me. as today is
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  Speaker 1: the day I put aside to take a shot at hospitals.
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  Speaker 1: Hospitals and medical groups and pharmaceutical companies. A new report
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  Speaker 1: comes out about a 340B program. And the more we
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  Speaker 1: dig into this, as it came into this primary election,
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  Speaker 1: the more fraud and the more dishonest things that are
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  Speaker 1: just surfacing from everywhere. So we're going to take a
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  Speaker 1: look at this and not make you warm and fuzzy,
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  Speaker 1: but stay tuned. Hi and welcome to Health Talk with Dr. Len,
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  Speaker 1: your daily dose.
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  Speaker 2: The information you hear on this show is informational. It's
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  Speaker 2: not meant to diagnose or treat any disease. Any kind
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  Speaker 2: of complete health conditions must be checked out and discussed
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  Speaker 2: with your primary care physician. Get ready for the good
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  Speaker 2: news of the day. God bless you folks. And here
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  Speaker 2: is Dr.
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  Speaker 1: Len. Now I've got to flip forward to get our
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  Speaker 1: daily devotional for today. For October 28th. 2026. Book of
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  Speaker 1: Colossians chapter 3. Do not expect to be treated fairly
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  Speaker 1: in this life. People will say and do hurtful things
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  Speaker 1: to you. Things that you don't deserve. When somebody mistreats you,
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  Speaker 1: try to view it as an opportunity to grow in grace.
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  Speaker 1: See how quickly you can forgive the one who has
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  Speaker 1: wounded you. Don't be concerned about setting the record straight.
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  Speaker 1: Instead of obsessing about other people's opinions of you, keep
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  Speaker 1: your focus on me Ultimately, it's my view of you
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  Speaker 1: that counts. As you concentrate on relating to me, remember
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  Speaker 1: that I have clothed you in my righteousness and holiness.
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  Speaker 1: I see you attired in those radiant garments, which I
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  Speaker 1: bought for you with my blood. This also is not fair.
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  Speaker 1: It's a pure gift. And when others treat you unfairly,
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  Speaker 1: remember that my ways with you are much better than fair.
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  Speaker 1: My ways are peace and love, which I have poured
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  Speaker 1: out into your heart by my spirit. Stay tuned.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you. 727-916-4215 to get a hold of me off
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  Speaker 3: air hospitals that benefit from a government program intended to
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  Speaker 3: help safety net institutions I'd like to know what that.
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  Speaker 1: Means end up spending less on charitable care than other hospitals.
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  Speaker 1: A new study has found as federal policymakers move to
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  Speaker 1: reform $ 244 billion incentive. The 340B drug pricing program allows
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  Speaker 1: certain health care providers to buy prescription drugs with steep
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  Speaker 1: discounts and sell them to patients at retail price, keeping
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  Speaker 1: the difference to supplement their income. You know, back in
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  Speaker 1: the day, I was told that that was highly illegal.
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  Speaker 1: The program was created more than 30 years ago to
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  Speaker 1: give a financial boost to rural hospitals, to allow them
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  Speaker 1: to make a little bit of money, to maintain what
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  Speaker 1: they could do for charity. Hospitals serving a disappropriate share
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  Speaker 1: of Medicaid patients and other providers were consolidated into large
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  Speaker 1: health care conglomerates. Within a few years, the 340B program
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  Speaker 1: swelled from a relatively small initiative by federal standards to
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  Speaker 1: a major revenue source, bringing billions of dollars a year
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  Speaker 1: into increasingly larger health care systems, not where it was
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  Speaker 1: supposed to go. Now a report from Pioneer Institute shows
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  Speaker 1: that hospitals participating in the program spend less on charity
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  Speaker 1: care than do other hospitals that don't receive the funds.
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  Speaker 1: Put a little cash in their pockets. The markup on
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  Speaker 1: those drugs netted the covered entities more than $ 142 billion
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  Speaker 1: last year. Margin shared with contract pharmacies and vendors. So
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  Speaker 1: everybody got money. Berkeley Research Group estimated in some cases
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  Speaker 1: they bought the products for as little as one penny.
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  Speaker 1: That's possible in part because the hospitals don't have to
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  Speaker 1: handle the sales directly. They can sell them to outside
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  Speaker 1: contract pharmacies as long as the prescription is written for
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  Speaker 1: a patient in the hospital. The 1,150 participating hospitals operated
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  Speaker 1: more than 28,000 off-site entities in 2025, including physician practices,
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  Speaker 1: outpatient surgery centers, and other freestanding health care facilities. From
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  Speaker 1: 2020 to 2025, 340B sales grew by 100%. and 52%,
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  Speaker 1: nearly three times the growth of all drug sales in
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  Speaker 1: the United States. Their margins more than doubled. Patients and
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  Speaker 1: payers spent $ 244 billion on drugs brought under this program
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  Speaker 1: last year. These drugs cost covered entities $ 100 billion, according
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  Speaker 1: to the data from the Health Resources and Services Administration.
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  Speaker 1: $ 244 came in, cost of $ 100. That's a profit of
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  Speaker 1: $ 144 billion. Hmm.
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  Speaker 3: Hmm.
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  Speaker 1: The law does not specify how hospitals and other covered
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  Speaker 1: entities must spend that money.
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  Speaker 3: Hmm.
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  Speaker 1: The report funded by Pharma, P-H-R-M-A, a trade group representing
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  Speaker 1: drug makers that provide the 340B discount, found that 60%
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  Speaker 1: of the money spent on drugs bought under the program
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  Speaker 1: is retained as profit. 60% by hospitals, clinics, and their
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  Speaker 1: for-profit partners, the other drug companies. American Heart Association said
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  Speaker 1: growth in the program is directly linked to the drug prices.
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  Speaker 1: The pharmaceutical manufacturer said it's their fault. Oh yeah, it's
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  Speaker 1: their fault. Still getting these things for as little as
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  Speaker 1: a penny. Growth in the program reflects decisions made to
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  Speaker 1: expand its reach to underserved populations, including children, cancer patients,
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  Speaker 1: and rural communities. Supposed to be It didn't work. The
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  Speaker 1: more drug companies charge for drugs, the greater the discounts,
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  Speaker 1: the larger the growth of the program. Only certain hospitals
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  Speaker 1: and clinics are eligible. All of them are supposed to
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  Speaker 1: be listed as non-profits. Non-profit hospitals receive other benefits, including
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  Speaker 1: tax exemption, in exchange for their commitment to provide benefits
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  Speaker 1: to their communities. These benefits, including free and discounted services,
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  Speaker 1: are often called charity care to patients who cannot afford care.
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  Speaker 1: And I guess to their own back pocket and their
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  Speaker 1: own wallets, in case they can't afford care, huh? Yet
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  Speaker 1: 340B hospitals spend a smaller share of their operating budget
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  Speaker 1: on charity, 2.16%, compared to 2.82% at all other hospitals.
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  Speaker 1: The study does not claim that joining 340B causes hospitals
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  Speaker 1: to provide less charity care. It shows that the discount
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  Speaker 1: does not reliably translate into more help for patients. The
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  Speaker 1: 340B hospitals underperformed across multiple charity care measures. These hospitals
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  Speaker 1: spent 29% less on care for uninsured patients. According to
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  Speaker 1: a 2023 study from the Alliance for Integrity and Reform,
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  Speaker 1: two-thirds of the 340B Disappropriate Share hospitals rank below the
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  Speaker 1: national average. A bunch of crap is what this is.
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  Speaker 1: The 340B program was created for providers on a federal
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  Speaker 1: grant budget that had to treat patients whether they could
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  Speaker 1: afford the care or not. You know what else drained this,
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  Speaker 1: in my opinion? Expanding this into illegals that came into
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  Speaker 1: this country. And I'm sure a lot of these hospitals
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  Speaker 1: that were supposed to take care of this said, you
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  Speaker 1: know what, I'm going to keep a lot of this
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  Speaker 1: because I don't think we should pay it for them. Revenues, revenues,
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  Speaker 1: said Bond Secure Mercy Health, a non-profit health care system
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  Speaker 1: with more than 1,200 sites. All revenues used to pay
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  Speaker 1: for expenses incurred in their pursuit of our mission. Yeah, right.
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  Speaker 1: Bond Secure Mercy Health realized more than $ 270 million in 340B.
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  Speaker 1: service savings and revenues from 2018 to 2023. The Cleveland
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  Speaker 1: Clinic totaled $ 933. 7 million. There is no dollar-for-dollar pass-on requirement
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  Speaker 1: for patients under 340B, said Cleveland Clinic. We're allowed to
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  Speaker 1: do with what we want. The discount this big shouldn't
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  Speaker 1: be a mystery. If it's reaching the patients in need,
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  Speaker 1: that's the easiest thing for institutes to prove, but none
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  Speaker 1: of those hospitals do because no one ever had to.
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  Speaker 1: Hospitals participating in the 340B program are non-profits, and they
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  Speaker 1: enter business relationships with pharmacies that dispense drugs on their behalf.
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  Speaker 1: Now we step foot into Minnesota. These contract pharmacies and
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  Speaker 1: third-party administrations capture about 16% of the revenue flowing through
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  Speaker 1: the program. Contract pharmacies often get a flat fee of
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  Speaker 1: $ 6 to $ 15 per prescription. Some also retain up to
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  Speaker 1: 20% of the revenue from the prescriptions filled for insured patients.
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  Speaker 1: Revenue is revenue. Five companies account for 77% of all
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  Speaker 1: 340B pharmacy relationships. CVS Health, Walgreens, Walmart, Cigna, and UnitedHealth Group.
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  Speaker 1: These Fortune 50 companies profit from the 340B transactions without
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  Speaker 1: directly supporting the problem safety net mission. Beginning next year,
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  Speaker 1: two federal initiatives could change this. Under a pilot program
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  Speaker 1: starting January 1st of 27, providers will pay the list
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  Speaker 1: price up front for certain drugs, then submit claims to
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  Speaker 1: receive their discount as a rebate. And they better doggone
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  Speaker 1: well show that they are using it properly and not
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  Speaker 1: for illegals in this country. In a public comment addressed
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  Speaker 1: to the administrator, Dr.
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  Speaker 2: Oz.
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  Speaker 3: Rep.
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  Speaker 1: Mike Lawler from New York, joined by five Republican colleagues,
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  Speaker 1: asked to reconsider the rate reduction, saying it would result
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  Speaker 1: in nearly a 40% reduction in payment to safety net
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  Speaker 1: hospitals that utilize the 340B. Please don't cut us. We
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  Speaker 1: need it. Yeah, right. There you got it. Now you know.
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  Speaker 1: It's crooked. To the get-go. I'm probably going to get
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  Speaker 1: grief about this, but hey, take it for what it's worth.