Peace Garden News

There are 39 North Dakota hospitals participating in the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program.

This program is a federal initiative that enables eligible hospitals and healthcare organizations to purchase outpatient medications at significantly discounted prices.

Established in 1992, the program aims to provide financial relief to healthcare providers serving vulnerable populations, allowing them to stretch their scarce resources and reach more eligible patients.

Hospitals participating in the 340B program can use the savings to fund essential services and programs, such as free or low-cost medication assistance, expanded access to healthcare, and community outreach initiatives.

Participating hospitals, however, "often extend their 340B discounts to clinics in well-off communities, where they can charge privately insured patients more than those on Medicaid,” reported the Wall Street Journal.

"In some cases, the program appears to be bolstering profits in well-off areas more than it is underwriting services in less-privileged neighborhoods,” said the Journal article.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) introduced a bill in 2023 that he said would ensure "that organizations are transparent about how they use resources from” the 340B program.

"The 340B Drug Pricing Program is supposed to help low-income and uninsured Americans afford their medicine, but some are taking advantage of the program at the expense of vulnerable patients,” said Kennedy.

Hospital	City
Altru Hospital	Grand Forks
Ashley Medical Center	Ashley
Carrington Health Center	Carrington
Cavalier County Memorial Hospital	Langdon
CHI St. Alexius Health Devils Lake Hospital	Devils Lake
Community Memorial Hospital	Turtle Lake
Cooperstown Medical Center	Cooperstown
First Care Health Center	Park River
Garrison Memorial Hospital	Garrison
Heart of America Medical Center	Rugby
Innovis Health	Fargo
Jacobson Memorial Hospital	Elgin
Jamestown Regional Medical Center	Jamestown
Kenmare Community Hospital	Kenmare
Linton Hospital	Linton
Lisbon Area Health Services	Lisbon
McKenzie County Healthcare Systems	Watford City
Mercy Hospital of Valley City	Valley City
Mercy Medical Center	Williston
Mountrail County Medical Center	Stanley
Nelson County Health System-Hospital	McVille
Northwood Deaconess Health Center	Northwood
Oakes Community Hospital	Oakes
Pembina County Memorial Hospital	Cavalier
Presentation Medical Center	Rolla
Sanford Bismarck	Bismarck
Sanford Hillsboro	valley City
Sanford Medical Center	Fargo
Sanford Medical Center	Mayville
SMP Health St. Andrew’s	Bottineau
Southwest Healthcare Services	Bowman
St. Aloisius Medical Center	Harvey
St. Joseph’s Hospital & Health Center	Dickinson
St. Luke’s Hospital	Crosby
Tioga Medical Center	Tioga
Towner County Medical Center	Cando
Trinity Hospitals	Minot
Unity Medical Center	Grafton
West River Health Services	Hettinger
Wishek Hospital Clinic	Wishe