癌症治疗变得越来越昂贵，部分原因是特殊药物的使用。这些药物的成本往往会转嫁到患者身上，患者可能会面临支付超出其承受能力的费用的后果，从而导致经济损失。 340B 药品定价计划是一项医疗保健政策，可能会提供减轻癌症治疗的财务后果的机会。 340B 计划要求制造商以折扣价向为大量社会经济弱势群体提供护理的医院出售门诊药品。该计划旨在让医院利用折扣购买节省下来的资金，将其安全网扩大到弱势患者。一些研究表明，参与的医院通过提供更多慈善和折扣护理来做到这一点，而其他研究则表明，医院未能充分扩大其安全网。该计划的一个潜在缺陷是，管理机构缺乏关于医院应如何使用折扣购买节省的指导。鉴于 340B 计划的有效性结果褒贬不一，利益相关者之间关于改革 340B 计划的讨论越来越多。随着特殊药物成本的上升以及癌症患者经济毒性的普遍存在，有机会通过改进该计划的改革来解决这些问题。指导医院提供特定的安全网机会，例如向弱势群体提供折扣药品价格，可以帮助越来越多因 340B 计划核心药物而承受经济负担的患者。© 2024 美国癌症协会。

Cancer treatment has become increasingly expensive, partially due to the use of specialty drugs. The costs of these drugs are often passed down to patients, who may face the consequences of paying for more than they can afford, leading to financial toxicity. The 340B drug pricing program is a health care policy that may provide an opportunity to mitigate the financial consequences of cancer care. The 340B program requires manufacturers to sell outpatient drugs at a discount to hospitals caring for a significant number of socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals. The program intended for hospitals to use savings from discounted purchases to expand their safety net to vulnerable patients. Some studies have shown that participating hospitals do this by offering more charity and discounted care, whereas others have demonstrated that hospitals fail to sufficiently expand their safety net. A potential flaw of the program is the lack of guidance from governing bodies on how hospitals should use savings from discounted purchases. There has been growing discussion among stakeholders to reform the 340B program given the mixed findings of its effectiveness. With the rising costs of specialty drugs and associated prevalence of financial toxicity in patients with cancer, there is an opportunity to address these issues through reform that improves the program. Directing hospitals to offer specific safety net opportunities, such as passing along discounted drug prices to vulnerable populations, could help the growing number of patients who are financially burdened by medications at the core of the 340B program.© 2024 American Cancer Society.