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Drugmaker requirements are making it hard for hospitals like Franciscan Health Olympia Fields to turn savings on drug costs into healthcare services for patients. The hospital joined the federal 340B program “to help serve the uninsured and under-insured community residents in Olympia Fields and Chicago Heights.” The poverty rates in both Chicago suburbs are higher than the 11.6% state average—nearly 13% in Olympia Fields and almost 25% in Chicago Heights.

The hospital has put 340B savings toward healthcare services, including its:

• Outpatient Infusion Center that provides comprehensive cancer care;
• Medication to Bedside program that ensures medication access prior to discharge; and
• Pharmacist-managed Anticoagulation Clinics and Pharmacotherapy Clinics that improve medication outcomes and reduce hospital readmissions.

“The 340B program serves as a vital lifeline for safety-net providers to support critical health services in low-income or isolated rural communities, which are typically operated at a loss,” Franciscan Health said.

Since 2020, drugmakers have blocked access to lifesaving medications acquired through the 340B program, making it harder for Illinois’ 100 participating hospitals to invest in healthcare services—and patients.

Support House Bill 2371 SA 2 to prohibit drugmakers from interfering with hospital pharmacy contracts. Low-income communities deserve access to more comprehensive healthcare services, as the 340B program intended. Learn more.