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Critical 340B Program Needs Federal Reforms
Thursday, Oct 23, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] A federal program created in 1992 to support safety-net clinics with the care they provided to uninsured patients is being abused by for-profit pharmacies and large hospital systems. The 340B program has become a cash cow with profits flowing away from the very patients and communities the program was meant to help. Reform at the federal level is critical to ensure that the 340B program works as it was intended by providing necessary funds to safety-net clinics that serve some of the neediest patient populations in Illinois and across the country. Multiple investigations have found that the program has created perverse incentives for hospitals to prescribe more and higher-cost medicines, as well as buy up smaller independent clinics and practices to benefit from their prescriptions as well. Meanwhile for-profit pharmacies are making millions of dollars off hospitals, with no requirements to provide low-cost medicines to patients. Sisters Working It Out supports reforms that increase transparency and improve oversight to help return 340B to its original purpose of helping low-income patients and the safety-net clinics they rely on. Congress must act to reform this critical federal program.
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What Illinois Can Learn From Texas On Battery Energy Storage
Thursday, Oct 23, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] As Illinois confronts skyrocketing electric bills, legislators are on the hunt for solutions that provide relief as quickly as possible. Battery energy storage is our best and most cost-effective solution. But last session— without evidence —opponents attempted to claim that battery energy storage wouldn’t work. Try telling that to Texas, where the rapid deployment of battery storage has already prevented blackouts and saved consumers billions. Called “Ground Zero for the US Battery Boom” by Bloomberg, Texas added enough storage in 2023 to power 3 million homes and drop grid emergency risk during peak hours from 16% to less than 1%. The result? Storage saved consumers an estimated $750 million in 2024. Texas has proven that storage is the quickest, cheapest, most reliable way to get consumers relief from skyrocketing, demand-induced price spikes. Storage is a nimble way to address growing populations, power-hungry data centers, and meet other electrification-related power needs. These are benefits Texas saw from storage even as the state reduced its gas generation capacity by 166 MW last year. Illinois lawmakers should follow Texas’s lead and pass the Clean and Reliable Grid Act this fall to deploy 6GW of energy storage by 2035. Click here for more information.
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The Truth About 340B: Protecting Patient Access To Discounted Rx Drugs And Essential Healthcare Services
Thursday, Oct 23, 2025 - Posted by Advertising Department [The following is a paid advertisement.] Drugmakers are making it harder for patients and hospitals to access discounted medication through the federal 340B program, which requires pharmaceutical companies to lower the cost of certain drugs for hospitals caring for the state’s most vulnerable residents. The Patient Access to Pharmacy Protection Act (HB 2371 SA 2) will protect 340B and its positive impact on individual lives. The 340B program is critically important for Illinois’ Safety Net and Critical Access Hospitals that predominantly serve Medicare, Medicaid and uninsured patients. Of the 100 Illinois hospitals participating in 340B, 70% are Safety Net or Critical Access Hospitals. Instead of supporting patients, Big Pharma has been promoting false narratives about 340B. Here’s the truth:
• Big Pharma supported Congressional expansion of 340B in 2010. • Laws like HB 2371 SA 2 have passed nearly 20 states. • HB 2371 SA 2 does NOT require a state appropriation. • 340B providers must meet rigorous requirements and undergo regular audits. Because of drugmaker restrictions, hospitals operating on thin margins face cutting services unless action is taken by the General Assembly. Protect patient access to comprehensive healthcare services and discounted drugs. VOTE YES on HB 2371 SA 2! Learn more.
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