DPC Requests Fiscal Note on South Dakota HB154 340B Expansion

DPC wrote to members of the South Dakota House of Representatives, requesting that a fiscal note be attached to proposed legislation, House Bill 154, which ais to expand the federal 340B program in the state.

DPC wrote: 

SB154, which aims to expand the 340B drug pricing program in South Dakota, has often been touted as cost-free to taxpayers, but this is totally false.

South Dakota taxpayers deserve a fiscal note for SB 154 to understand the full and true impact this legislation would have on small business owners as well as on the state health plan.

Every time someone in the State Employees Health Benefits Program fills a 340B-eligible prescription, the taxpayers pay. Any amount that the pharmacy or hospital charges the State Health Plan above the cost to acquire the drug is a windfall provided by tax dollars. South Dakotans deserve to know exactly what their contribution is to support the 340B program in the state.

Last year, the North Carolina State Treasurer released a report finding North Carolina 340B hospitals overcharged state employees for cancer drugs and reaped thousands of dollars per claim—all at taxpayer expense. There, 340B hospitals billed the State Health Plan 5.4 times their discounted acquisition costs, collecting as much as $6,026 in average profits per claim by charging up to 12.7 times their 340B acquisition costs for oncology drugs. South Dakota taxpayers should know whether they are being similarly gouged to support the 340B program in their state.