MedLink Health Connections Podcast

Pharmacy Discounts That Save Lives: Inside MedLink's 340B Program

• MedLink Georgia • Season 1 • Episode 8

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What happens when patients can finally afford the medication they truly need instead of settling for what they can pay for? The answer is transformative healthcare.

Pharmacy Director Dennis Kimbrell shares a surprising revelation from his experience with the 340B drug pricing program at MedLink. When he first joined the organization, he expected to help patients save money on their existing medications. Instead, he discovered something far more impactful – patients weren't using effective medications at all because they simply couldn't afford them.

 This conversation shows how the 340B program helps in two big ways: it saves patients money, and it also helps MedLink keep offering important health services to the community. Thanks to these savings, MedLink has been able to grow and add dental care, mental health help, addiction recovery support, and imaging services — all of which are hard to find in rural or low-income areas. 

 Dennis also talks about how hard it is for some people to get proper healthcare, especially in places where there aren’t enough doctors or many people don’t have insurance. The 340B program lets clinics like MedLink offer care at lower costs, using a sliding fee scale based on how much money a family makes. This way, people can get the care they need — no matter their financial situation. 

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the MedLink Health Connections podcast. I'm your host, angela, and today we're continuing our discussion on the 340B drug pricing program here at MedLink with our pharmacy director, dennis Kimbrell. We will explore how the 340B pharmacies benefit patients by providing lower cost medications and reducing out-of-pocket expenses, and so much more. Dennis, thank you so much for joining us again. Can you kind of start off by giving us a brief overview of everything we covered in episode one, for those who haven't listened, and then go into how patients benefit directly from the 340B pricing program?

Speaker 2:

Okay, well, in the previous episode we spoke in depth a little about the 340B drug pricing program and how it allows for MedLink to purchase medications at a discounted price for two purposes, you know. One is to offer a discounted medication to our patients to save them money, and to allow MedLink to use the 340B savings to support all of our services that we offer. So for as far as how a patient directly benefits, I think it's pretty obvious that the program can help lower out-of-pocket drug costs for patients. That's the big one, that's the obvious one. However, the program also allows patients to have access to necessary medications. Often providers have to consider what someone can afford when they're trying to develop a medication plan to treat their condition, and having access to a newer, possibly more effective medication at a more affordable cost can allow patients to get actually better and can achieve a better health outcome for them. And patients also directly benefit when Medlink is able to take those 340B savings and offer additional services to provide a more comprehensive health care to our patients.

Speaker 2:

Overall, I think the program plays a crucial role in just making health care more affordable and accessible.

Speaker 1:

I can agree because I know you hear stories all the time about people not being able to access medications that they need because of the one factor of money. And if we offer it at a more affordable price, the chances of them being able to meet that need is higher than sometimes not.

Speaker 2:

That makes sense. Yeah, and the second part I made about more necessary medications. That is so much bigger than people give it credit for. You know, when I started working for MedLink in 2015, I came from a retail establishment and you know we filled medications and you either got it or you didn't get it. It was corporate. So if you're insured, you got it. If you're uninsured, you got something cheaper. You know, you got something on the zero dollar list or the four dollar list.

Speaker 2:

And when I first started at MedLink and I came in and I saw what we could do for patients and I immediately thought, wow, I'm going to be able to save so much money for these patients.

Speaker 2:

I mean, we're going to be able to price something that is a first line therapy you know, the best thing you can give for diabetes and we're going to be able to make it affordable. We're going to save so much money for patients. Well, it turns out we didn't save any money for patients because none of those patients were using those medications. They were all just using whatever they could afford cheap medications. So what was more impactful was actually being able to put them on something that actually made a difference in the results. So they went from using something that was a zero dollar drug at Publix or a four dollar drug at Walmart to using something that was actually effective, and that was what surprised me and that's what had the most impact on me. As you know, at the time I was a pharmacist working the counter and that's where I saw the most benefit and I got the most satisfaction from.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's amazing because I know it's so hard nowadays with medication and everything and I love that's really amazing. In what ways do 340B pharmacies support broader healthcare services for communities?

Speaker 2:

Well, the covered entities that participate in 340B now. I've already mentioned that they're able to retain the savings costs when they purchase 340B medications and be able to use that to support the patients they serve. So I'll just use Medlink as an example. I know experience from here at Medlink that the 340B savings have helped to expand our services to more patients and more communities where a quality and affordable health care is needed the most, and we've also been able to offer new service lines for our patients. Since I've been here, we've added dental services, mental health services, medication, assisted drug recovery programs, imaging services, just to name a few. The 340B program is essential for health centers like MedLink to help meet the needs of the community.

Speaker 1:

And what role does the 340B pharmacy play in addressing some of those health disparities in the low-income areas?

Speaker 2:

Well, I think it's important to also realize that 340B entities in general often operate where they're needed most. So often that's in a rural area that does not have access to adequate health care, or maybe in a low-income area where patients are often uninsured. And I just touched on how 340b is not only a resource for you know, medlink and other covered entities to provide affordable medications, but also essential in supporting our efforts to provide an affordable comprehensive health care option as well. Now, all of these services that we offer, we also offer a sliding fee for patients. They give them reduced prices based on their household income, and there is just not enough federal funding to cover the needs of our communities. So these 340B savings are truly essential to overcome this gap that seems to be growing every year in federal funding that is needed to serve our communities. So to me, the 340B drug pricing program is truly essential for MedLink to provide affordable health care to everyone in our communities.

Speaker 1:

I can agree. I can agree. It truly is important and I think MedLink is important to our communities as well. It helps so much in so many different ways and I hope that others can start to learn all of these different ways that MedLink is helping, because I think it's not as prevalent as you would hope it is or obvious as you would hope it is, and I thank you so much for joining me today to kind of talk about some of these ways that we help our communities and thank you so much for all of your knowledgeable information that you gave us.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you so much for having me. I truly enjoyed it.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for tuning in to the MedLink Health Connections podcast. We hope you found today's episode informative and inspiring. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe, rate and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. Remember, the information shared in this podcast is for educational purposes only and should not replace professional medical advice. Always consult with your healthcare provider for any medical concerns. Stay connected with us on social media and visit our website at MedlinkGAorg for more resources and updates. Until next time, stay healthy and take care.