Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle May 21, 2025
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Opinion
Policymakers Should Support
Patients With Chronic Conditions
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
Bobbie Dore Foster
Executive Editor
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
O
Patricia Irvin
Product Manager
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Reporter
Monica J. Foster
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Photographer
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regon stands at a cross-
roads in its effort to
make healthcare more
equitable and accessi-
ble. As an organization that
advocates for people living
with HIV/AIDS and viral hep-
atitis, the Community Access
National Network urges law-
makers to reject HB 2385 and
oppose the unchecked expan-
sion of the 340B Drug Pricing
Program in Oregon.
The 340B Program was es-
tablished with good inten-
tions. Enacted by Congress
in 1992, its purpose was to
enable safety-net providers to
purchase prescription medi-
cations at steep discounts and
to use those savings to expand
access to care for vulnerable
populations. But the program
has strayed far from this mis-
sion. As it exists today, 340B
too often serves institution-
al financial gain rather than
directly benefiting patients,
leaving patients to ask “What
about me?”
This misalignment is dan-
gerous for people living with
HIV and hepatitis. We face
chronic health needs and de-
pend on consistent, afford-
able access to life-saving med-
ications. Expanding a broken
system under HB 2385 threat-
ens to deepen healthcare dis-
Jen Laws
President
& CEO of
Community
Access Nat’l
Network
parities rather than alleviate
them.
The HIV and hepatitis com-
munities depend on highly
coordinated, accessible care.
Yet in many cases, patients
served through the 340B net-
“
As it exists to-
day, 340B too
often serves
institutional
financial gain
rather than
directly bene-
fiting patients
work are not actually seeing
the benefits of discounted
drugs. For example, when a
hospital purchases a medi-
cine at a 340B discount and
then partners with a contract
pharmacy to dispense it, the
patient is often charged the
full retail price. The savings
are instead shared between
the hospital and pharmacy,
not passed on to the person in
need.
Studies have found that
340B revenues incentivize
consolidation by driving 340B
hospitals to acquire physician
practices in wealthy areas.
Meanwhile, 340B contract
pharmacy arrangements are
increasingly
consolidated
into large pharmacy chains
located in higher-income
communities. This consolida-
tion reduces access to care,
particularly for marginalized
and rural populations, who
often find themselves exclud-
ed from expanded 340B net-
works.
HB 2385 would permit
further expansion of 340B
contract pharmacy arrange-
ments without adding trans-
parency or accountability.
48% of Oregon 340B hospital
contracts are with out-of-state
pharmacies, and only 26% of
in-state contract pharmacies
are located in medically un-
derserved areas. Simply ex-
panding the program’s foot-
print without reform will not
improve care for rural or un-
derserved populations.
It will, however, increase op-
portunities for markup and
profiteering, further inflat-
House Committee Votes to Strip CFPB’s
Victim Compensation Fund
F
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or more than a decade,
consumers have lauded
the Consumer Finan-
cial Protection Bureau
(CFPB) for its myriad accom-
plishments that have brought
transparency and fairness
to the financial marketplace.
Earlier this year, a survey
commissioned by the Cen-
ter for Responsible Lend-
ing found that 82 percent of
Americans believe it is im-
portant to regulate financial
services to ensure they are
fair for consumers.
Research, regulation, inves-
tigations, and litigation were
among the effective tools
CFPB used to return more
than $21 billion to over 200
million defrauded consum-
ers.
At the same time, the an-
ti-regulatory interests that
opposed CFPB’s creation nev-
er stopped trying to weaken,
defy, or eliminate the agen-
cy. Now with a president and
Congress actively embracing
a deregulatory stance, the
combination of pro-business
presidential executive orders
vigorously pursued by execu-
tive appointees have wreaked
financial harm on consumers
and compromised the agen-
cy’s mission.
From slashing CFPB sta ng
by 70 percent, halting both
investigations and pending
litigation, to reversing reg-
Charlene
Crowell
Guest
Columnist
ulations on overdraft and
credit cards, in recent days
a third anti-consumer move
announced the agency would
not enforce regulation of
‘buy now, pay later’ credit. In
sum, today’s agency actions
“
In sum, to-
day’s agency
actions no
longer reflect
its name or
mission.
no longer reflect its name or
mission.
Yet the fight to neuter CFPB
is still not done. It is now mov-
ing monies –denying or de-
laying millions that consum-
ers are rightfully owed, and
sending billions of dollars
earmarked for victim com-
pensation to the U.S. Treasury
instead.
A pending, real-life case il-
lustrates the harm wrought
by such moves, and the finan-
cial injustice that results.
This February, several state
attorneys general began res-
titution inquiries owed by
Prehire, LLC. Earlier, CFPB
determined that Prehired,
LLC, an unlicensed online
sales training program, vi-
olated two federal laws: the
Truth in Lending Act, and
Fair Debt Collection Practices
Act. The firm lured prospec-
tive tech sales students with
false promises of guaranteed
minimal annual earnings of
$60,000 at a ‘tech company
of their choice.’ The cost per
student was half that amount
- $30,000. Then the firm sold
loans to its students to cover
enrollment costs.
A March 12 joint letter to
CFPB that asked about the sta-
tus of payments to Prehire’s
victims failed to receive a re-
ply. On May 06, a follow-up
letter restated their earlier
concerns.
Terming Prehire as “a pred-
atory online training boot-
camp,” the state attorneys
general in Colorado, Dela-
ware, Illinois, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, New York, North
Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, and
South Carolina as well as the
California Department of Fi-
nancial Protection and Inno-
vation, wrote in part:
“Prehired trapped its stu-
dents with illegal and decep-
tive “income share” loans.
Prehired then resorted to
ing drug costs and reducing
the affordability of care. Ex-
panding contract pharmacies
defeats the program’s goal of
expanding access to care by
rewarding profiteering enti-
ties rather than constraining
them, putting more resourc-
es in the hands of those least
accountable to vulnerable pa-
tients.
A recent report reveals
how 340B participants are
using the program to markup
drug prices significantly by
as much as 700%, sometimes
more, while pocketing the
difference instead of lower-
ing costs for patients. In 2023
alone, $6.6 billion in employ-
er healthcare costs were at-
tributed to lost rebates on
340B prescriptions, and $1.8
billion in state and federal tax
revenue was lost in 2021 due
to this misalignment. These
numbers speak to a system
spiraling away from its core
mission and becoming a hid-
den tax on patients, employ-
ers, and taxpayers alike.
In Oregon, these problems
are compounded by health-
care challenges. The Oregon
Health Authority has noted
persistent racial and geo-
graphic disparities in access
to primary and specialty care,
especially in rural areas and
among Black, Indigenous, and
other communities of color.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
abusive debt collection prac-
tices —including filing hun-
dreds of debt collection law-
suits—when students could
not repay those loans and the
job offers Prehired promised
did not materialize. Prehired
specifically targeted military
veterans with its advertising.”
“Prehired was in bank-
ruptcy and unable to issue
refunds to its victims,” the
letter continued. “In such
cases, the CFPB’s Civil Penal-
ty Fund is available to com-
pensate harmed victims. Our
o ces worked with the CFPB
to secure an allocation from
the Civil Penalty Fund, in the
amount of $4,248,249. The
CFPB finalized the allocation
on May 30, 2024.”
Ironically, a recent par-
ty-line vote by the House Fi-
nancial Services Committee
(HFSC) approved a resolution
to remove CFPB’s ability to
repay defrauded consumers
from its Civil Penalty Fund
(CPF). If subsequently passed
by Congress, the fund’s un-
allocated revenues would be
given to the Treasury Depart-
ment, instead of remaining
available to compensate vic-
tims.
Billions of dollars at stake.
In June 2024, the O ce of In-
spector General at the CFPB
reported that the CPF had
collected $3.4 billion and held
a balance of $1.9 billion, as of
September 2023.
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
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