Rural 340B Access Act of 2025
Key claim: The Rural 340B Access Act of 2025 would make rural emergency hospitals eligible to purchase outpatient drugs at discounted prices through HRSA’s 340B drug pricing program.
Abstract
(HR44 · 119th Congress) Rural 340B Access Act of 2025 This bill makes rural emergency hospitals (REHs) eligible to purchase drugs from manufacturers at discounted prices by participating in the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) 340B drug pricing program. HRSA’s 340B program requires drug manufacturers that participate in the Medicaid program to sell certain outpatient drugs at discounted prices to entities listed as eligible under current law. Additionally, in 2020, Congress established REHs as a new Medicare provider designation for hospitals in rural areas providing emergency department services, observation care, and other outpatient medical and health services for which the annual per patient average length of stay does not exceed 24 hours. The bill adds qualifying REHs to the list of entities that are eligible to participate in the 340B program. Latest action (2025-01-03): Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Why this matters
The 340B program is a major lever for reducing outpatient drug costs at safety-net providers, and rural emergency hospitals are a new provider type created to keep essential services available after rural hospital closures. Extending 340B eligibility to REHs would materially reduce their drug acquisition costs and could influence whether struggling rural hospitals choose to convert to REH status. The change affects providers and manufacturers directly, and indirectly affects patient access to outpatient care in rural areas.