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.
Linked evidence
U.S. Senate HELP CommitteeSource packet
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FQHC Talent. (2026, June 25). Senate HELP Chair Cassidy Releases Comprehensive 340B Reform Discussion Draft — the Federal Rewrite Vehicle Arrives. Linked evidence: U.S. Senate HELP Committee. Retrieved September 11, 2026, from https://www.fqhctalent.com/intel/cassidy-340b-discussion-draft-june-2026
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