{"id":1105,"date":"2024-10-08T14:34:03","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T14:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=1105"},"modified":"2024-10-08T14:34:03","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T14:34:03","slug":"calif-ballot-measure-targets-drug-discount-program-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=1105","title":{"rendered":"Calif. Ballot Measure Targets Drug Discount Program Spending"},"content":{"rendered":"

Californians in November will weigh in on a ballot initiative to increase scrutiny over the use of health-care dollars \u2014 particularly money from a federal drug discount program \u2014 meant to support patient care largely for\u00a0low-income or indigent people<\/a>. The revenue is sometimes used to address housing instability and homelessness among vulnerable patient populations.<\/p>\n

Voters are being asked whether California should increase accountability in the\u00a0340B drug discount program<\/a>, which provides money for community clinics, safety net hospitals and other nonprofit health-care providers.<\/p>\n

The program requires pharmaceutical companies to give drug discounts to these clinics and nonprofit entities, which can bank revenue by charging higher reimbursement rates.<\/p>\n

Advocates pushing the measure,\u00a0Proposition 34<\/a>, say some entities are using the drug discount program as a slush fund, plowing money into housing and homelessness initiatives that don\u2019t meet basic patient safety standards. Researchers and advocates have called for\u00a0greater oversight<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 340B entities that are misusing these public dollars,\u201d said\u00a0Nathan Click<\/strong>, a spokesperson for the pro-Proposition 34 campaign. \u201cThe whole point of this program is to use this money to get more low-income people health-care services.\u201d<\/p>\n

The initiative wouldn\u2019t bar 340B providers from using health-care funds for housing or homelessness programs. Instead, it targets providers that spend more than\u00a0$100 million<\/strong>\u00a0on purposes other than direct patient care over 10 years. It\u00a0would mandate that\u00a098 percent<\/strong><\/a>of 340B revenues go to direct patient care. It also targets 340B providers with health insurer contracts and pharmacy licenses and those serving low-income Medicaid or Medicare patients that have been dinged with at least\u00a0500\u00a0<\/strong>high-severity housing violations<\/a>\u00a0for substandard or unsafe conditions.<\/p>\n

That has placed a bull\u2019s eye on the Los Angeles-based\u00a0AIDS Healthcare Foundation<\/strong>, a nonprofit that\u00a0provides direct patient care via clinics and pharmacies<\/a>\u00a0in California and other states, including Illinois, Texas and New York. It also owns housing for low-income and homeless people.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0Los Angeles Times<\/strong>\u00a0investigation<\/a>\u00a0found that many residents of AIDS Healthcare Foundation properties are living in deplorable, unhealthy conditions.<\/p>\n

Michael Weinstein<\/strong>, the foundation\u2019s president, disputes those claims and argues that Proposition 34 proponents, including real estate interests, are going after him for another ballot initiative that\u00a0seeks to implement rent control<\/a>\u00a0in more communities across California.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a revenge initiative,\u201d Weinstein said, arguing that the deep-pocketed\u00a0California Apartment Association<\/strong>\u00a0is targeting his foundation \u2014 and its health and housing operations \u2014 because it has backed\u00a0ballot measures<\/a>\u00a0pushing rent control across California. \u201cThis is a two-pronged attack against us to defeat rent control.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weinstein is locked in a feud with the apartment association, the\u00a0chief sponsor<\/a>\u00a0of the initiative, which\u00a0has contributed handsomely<\/a>\u00a0to pass Proposition 34.\u00a0Opponents argue<\/a>\u00a0that the initiative is \u201ca wolf in sheep\u2019s clothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weinstein acknowledged to KFF Health News that his nonprofit uses money from 340B drug discounts to support its housing initiatives but argued they are helping treat and house some of the most vulnerable people, who would otherwise be homeless.<\/p>\n

The apartment association declined several requests for comment. But Proposition 34 backers say they aren\u2019t going after rent control \u2014 or Weinstein and his nonprofit.<\/p>\n

Supporters\u00a0argue that<\/a>\u00a0\u201crising health care costs are squeezing millions of Californians\u201d and say that the initiative would \u201cgive California patients and taxpayers much needed relief, and lowers state drug costs, while saving California taxpayers billions.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the initiative passes and 340B providers do not spend\u00a098 percent<\/strong>\u00a0of the revenue on direct patient care, they could lose their license to practice health care and their nonprofit status.<\/p>\n

This article is not available for syndication due to republishing restrictions. If you have questions about the availability of this or other content for republication, please contact NewsWeb@kff.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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This story can be republished for free (details<\/a>).<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Californians in November will weigh in on a ballot initiative to increase scrutiny over the use of health-care dollars \u2014 particularly money from a federal drug discount program \u2014 meant to support patient care largely for\u00a0low-income or indigent people. The revenue is sometimes used to address housing instability and homelessness among vulnerable patient populations. Voters…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}