Congressional Research Finds Hospital Abuse of Drug Pricing Program

The Congressional Budget Office recently released a study on the growth of federal government spending on drugs purchased via the 340B program. The program, originally targeted to support rural hospitals, has been expanded to the largest health care systems. The result: significant additional costs to the American taxpayer and increases in the overall cost of health care.

Specifically, the CBO's analysis found that spending on drugs purchased through the 340B program grew by an average of 19 percent annually, exceeding the spending growth seen market-wide for prescription drug spending. Additionally, the analysis described how the Affordable Care Act both directly and indirectly expanded participation in the 340B program by expanding eligibility to more hospitals. 9/10/2025