340B Purchases Exceeded $100 Billion in 2025

The 340B Drug Discount Program started in 1992 with the laudable intention of helping federally funded hospitals that serve a large number of uninsured patients cover the costs of drugs and provide discounts to patients.  However, due to the lack of a clear definition of an eligible patient and poor oversight, the program has drifted from its mission and been exploited by hospitals and covered entities to generate millions of dollars of profit and is now the second largest government prescription drug program behind Medicare Part D.

On July 20, 2026, the Health Resources and Services Administration released its 2025 report on 340B drug purchases by covered entities, which revealed that for the first time in history the total exceeded $100 billion.  The total of $100,010,973,317 was $18.6 billion, or 23 percent greater than the $81.4 billion in drug purchases in 2024.  Disproportionate share hospitals accounted for 79 percent of purchases made in 2024 and 2025.

The 340B program has grown exponentially since 2010 and the 2025 HRSA 340B drug purchases report reiterates the urgency for Congress to enact reforms to 340B, which Citizens Against Government Waste has been promoting since May 2014.  Reforms to 340B should include defining an eligible patient, better verification of patient eligibility at the time the prescription is filled, a relationship between the patient and the covered entity, verification that services were provided within the last 12 months, and increased transparency.

340B spending has been growing unchecked, and the program has turned from one designed to help patients into a tool for hospitals and covered entities to pad their bottom line.  Congress should deliver much-needed reforms to the 340B program before the end of the 119th Congress.  Reforming 340B would put an end to waste and abuse of the program, save taxpayers money, and help millions of patients who continue to be denied the drug discounts they deserve.