Senate HELP Chair Cassidy Releases Comprehensive 340B Reform Discussion Draft — the Federal Rewrite Vehicle Arrives
Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-LA) released a legislative discussion draft of the '340B Drug Pricing Integrity and Affordability for Patients Act' on June 25, 2026 — the most comprehensive federal 340B rewrite vehicle to emerge this cycle. Key provisions per the committee release and STAT coverage: restrictions on hospital 'child sites' (which would need to provide services beyond drug dispensing and be located in shortage areas) and a requirement that hospital covered entities adopt sliding fee scales — a discipline FQHCs already live under by statute.
For health centers, the draft lands in a crowded field: the health-center-side '340C' proposal (a voluntary, transparent subset with contract-pharmacy protection and WAC reimbursement for Medicaid drugs) and the already-tracked bipartisan H.R. 7391 340B FQHC Protection Act remain the CHC counter-positions.
Strategic read: most of Cassidy's draft targets hospital behavior, not health centers — but any comprehensive 340B rewrite that moves opens the whole program, contract-pharmacy rules included, while the December 31 CHC Fund cliff still has no legislative vehicle of its own. Status: discussion draft (not yet introduced); comment and stakeholder engagement expected over summer 2026.
Key takeaways
- The draft mostly disciplines hospital 340B behavior (child sites, sliding fees) — requirements FQHCs already meet by statute.
- Any comprehensive rewrite that moves reopens contract-pharmacy rules for everyone — watch whether the '340C' health-center carve-out gets traction.
- A major 340B vehicle now exists in the Senate while the Dec 31 CHC Fund cliff still has none.
Primary source
U.S. Senate HELP CommitteeFQHC Talent. (2026, June 25). Senate HELP Chair Cassidy Releases Comprehensive 340B Reform Discussion Draft — the Federal Rewrite Vehicle Arrives. Primary source: U.S. Senate HELP Committee. Retrieved July 3, 2026, from https://www.fqhctalent.com/intel/cassidy-340b-discussion-draft-june-2026
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