Patrick McDonald Source 4

What else does the 340B program do to cancer patients?

Chapman, Robert. "340B Drug Discounts... “Unintended Consequences: How Government Policies Have Increased The Cost Of Cancer Care” In The 9/25 Issue." Oncology Times 36.22 (2014): 12. CINAHL. Web. 9 Mar. 2015.

Hospitals are able to buy drugs for very cheap prices, but they do not have to pass the savings
to the patients. These hospitals are saving up to fifty percent on the drugs they buy but sell them for full price. Even though these hospitals are helping the poorer people out there, they do not help them save on the medicine they need because they do not have to. There number of hospitals that are eligible for 340B have tripled from 2005-2011. The program is for outpatients but some hospitals have said they have changed patients from inpatients to outpatients so they can charge more. This puts patients in danger and is against what the program was intended for. The hospitals are trying to pressure people to be treated by them instead of private practices so they can make more money. The cost of the drug discounts is estimated to double from $6 billion in 2010 to $12 billion in 2016. The cost of cancer care may actually cost more than before the ACA. There was a study done that found the average cost of cancer care went up in 2012 by $140 per chemotherapy. The ACA expanded the 340B program and made it grow even faster.

This source really makes me think that the cost outweigh the benefits of the ACA. People are paying more than before for chemo and the hospitals are capitalizing on people who are fighting for their lives. I agree with this source because what is happening to these patients does not seem right. This source answers my question and helped me fully understand what the 340B was doing to cancer patients. I was a little unsure what it was really all about from the last article and I feel like I have a better grasp on the program. This seems like a valid study because of the people that contributed to it. They all have very valid credentials.

This article responds to my first two sources by saying that the ACA has a negative impact on the treatment of cancer patients rather than a positive. It puts to light how much money the hospitals are making from the 340B program. It tells us that the 340B program does not do what it was intended. My first two sources did not touch on the 340B program at all. This source agrees with my third source in that the ACA may not be a positive for cancer patients. They both talk about how much money they are making and how the patients are being hurt by it. They both pretty much blame the 340B as the cause of it along with the ACA.

I now want to compare these sources to what health care was like before the ACA. I want to have the full before and after effects of the program for cancer patients and survivors. I need to find a book on that to answer my question. I have answered how the ACA can be good for survivors, how it helps minorities and I understand the negative sides of it as well like the 340B program.