S&P report: 340B cuts could harm U.S. safety net

Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings recently said it believes that recent payment cuts to not-for-profit hospitals under the 340B drug savings program “will likely weaken their operating performance at a time of already tightening margins.” The report notes that the cuts “could lead to negative rating actions if hospital-specific funding reductions were material and not offset by other management actions. And despite the possibility of a legal challenge to the cuts, additional proposed program reforms at the federal level could further negatively affect these providers’ finances.”