What is Senate Bill 119?
Senate Bill 119 requires that a drug manufacturer can only get a permit to manufacture or ship medicines in Virginia if it does not limit the number of Community Health Centers (CHCs) or contract pharmacies to which it will ship 340B (discounted) drugs.
Why is Senate Bill 119 important?
Virginia’s Community Health Centers (CHCs) use 340B discounted medications to help patients afford their life-saving medicine. Some CHCs dispense medications from in-house pharmacies, and others rely on contracts with local pharmacies to fill prescriptions at deep discounts.
Over the last 12 months, a growing number of large drug manufacturers have begun restricting shipment of 340B-eligible drugs to a single in-house or contract pharmacy for each CHC.
These restrictions are creating an access crisis for our health centers and their patients. Many of our health centers and associated pharmacies are miles apart, creating a hardship for patients who now have to travel up to 40 miles to get their prescriptions filled, passing numerous pharmacies along the way.
So far, the restrictions have cost our health centers $3.1 million.
A bump in the road.
At the end of the legislative session, Governor Youngkin made amendments to the bill that would delay it by a year. That delay will cost the health centers and their patients dearly.