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| Home > News > SNHPA News Release - January 5, 2007 |
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Advocacy Group Transforms Into Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access
New Name Reflects Diverse Membership
The new year marks a new era for hospitals participating in the federal 340B drug discount program. Their Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization is transforming from the Public Hospital Pharmacy Coalition (PHPC) to Safety Net Hospitals for Pharmaceutical Access (SNHPA).
The organization, which was formed in 1993 by the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH) and remained a part of NAPH until this year, represents approximately 400 hospitals that participate in a federal drug discount program – called the “340B program” – by virtue of serving large numbers of low income patients.
“Recognizing the unique needs and challenges facing safety net hospitals to provide access to necessary pharmaceuticals for low-income Americans, NAPH founded PHPC to advocate on their behalf. We congratulate SNHPA on its birth as a new, separate trade association,” says Larry S. Gage, President of NAPH. “We look forward to continuing to work together on behalf of safety net hospital systems.”
SNHPA President Bill von Oehsen, who played a key role in both lobbying Congress in support of the 340B program and assisting NAPH in establishing PHPC, is a principal in the law firm of Powers, Pyles, Sutter & Verville, P.C. According to von Oehsen, “formation of SNHPA was a logical next step for an advocacy organization that has grown in size and influence within the federal drug pricing community.”
SNHPA’s hospital members are either owned by or under contract with state or local governments and, as a result, are highly dependent on taxpayer support to provide pharmacy services to their vulnerable patient populations. “Our organization has grown from a small group of large urban public hospitals to a diverse group of hospitals including not just public facilities but religious institutions, rural and children’s hospitals,” says Ted Slafsky, SNHPA’s Executive Director. The drug discount program, created by Congress in 1992 under Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, allows high-Medicaid nonprofit hospitals, community health centers, and other safety net providers to access significant discounts on outpatient pharmaceuticals. More than 12,000 healthcare facilities and 700 pharmaceutical manufacturers participate in the program.
While the 340B program has saved hospitals an average of $2 million per year in drug costs, those discounts do not include pharmaceuticals that are used when patients stay overnight. As a result, hospitals pay an average of 25 percent more for inpatient pharmaceuticals than those used for outpatients. Legislation that would extend discounts to the inpatient setting was introduced last year by Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and John Thune (R-SD) and Representatives Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO). While the legislation gained strong bipartisan support, it did not make it for a vote on the floor of Congress. “We are hopeful that we can get this legislation enacted during this session of Congress,” says SNHPA’s Founder and President William von Oehsen. “There is no reason why hospitals should be paying so much more for the same exact drugs just because a patient is too sick to go home,” von Oehsen says.
While SNHPA’s mission will remain the same, it is launching a new web site – www.safetynetrx.org – where you can find more information about the organization and the 340B program.
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Washington, DC 20005 
