At a time of economic uncertainty and rising costs, affordability matters more than ever — especially for New Yorkers battling serious illnesses and navigating the health care system. For this reason, we must ensure that government programs meant to reduce costs and increase access to care are working for the people.

One such program is the 340B Drug Pricing Program, which the federal government created to allow safety-net hospitals and community health centers to help vulnerable patients access their medications at discounted prices.

Unfortunately, the 340B program has strayed far from its original purpose, becoming a major source of revenue for health care systems, and not just for safety net providers. An analysis by the Empire Center for Public Policy found that some of New York’s most well-funded hospitals are taking in hundreds of millions of dollars through the program each year. But there is remarkably little transparency into whether patients are truly benefiting from that funding.

Hospitals participating in 340B purchase medications at steeply discounted prices while still billing insurers and patients at much higher rates. For cancer treatments, some hospitals charge nearly five times what they paid to acquire the medications through the 340B program. Those markups can drive up deductibles and coinsurance costs, harming patients who are already facing financial challenges.

That’s why Democratic Assembly member Amanda Septimo, of the Bronx, and I introduced legislation requiring 340B-covered entities in New York to report how much revenue they generate through the program and how those funds are spent. Under our bill, the State Department of Health would make that information publicly available so patients, taxpayers and lawmakers could better understand whether the program is fulfilling its mission.

Our bill is intended to improve rather than undermine the integrity of the 340B program. It is a common-sense reform to make sure the program works for the people it was designed to help.

Patients who generate substantial 340B revenues for hospitals often have no idea the program even exists. Hospital patients rarely see those savings reflected at the pharmacy counter or in their medical bills, and there is currently no clear public accounting of where the money generated by the program ultimately goes.

That demonstrates a clear need for transparency in the system.

As a breast cancer survivor, I understand that a cancer diagnosis takes a physical and emotional toll on the patient and their family. Expensive treatments are often unavoidable, and no one battling cancer should have to question whether they can afford the care needed to survive. But people battling cancer often do face financial hardship as medical bills, prescription costs, transportation expenses and lost income add up. Nearly half of cancer patients and survivors have medical debt, and cancer patients are five times more likely to experience bankruptcy.

Programs intended to support vulnerable patients should be accountable to the public and focused on delivering measurable benefits to the people they were created to serve. New Yorkers and policymakers should have a full accounting of whether hospitals are or are not using these resources to reduce patient costs, expand charity care, improve access to treatment, and strengthen health care services in underserved communities. And if those benefits are not reaching patients, we need to have honest conversations about how to fix and improve the program.

Patients and families are already carrying enormous emotional and financial burdens. We need to make sure that medication discount programs are there to provide relief — not to simply boost the revenues of large health care systems. New Yorkers deserve to know whether a program created to lower costs and expand access to care is truly delivering on that promise.

First published in the Long Island Herald, July 10, 2026.