Follow Jerry Moran’s lead. Root out fraud that hurts Kansans’ mental health | Opinion

As an advocate for Kansans living with mental health conditions, I see every day how critical access to affordable care is. Yet too often, programs meant to help vulnerable patients are misused, leaving those who need help most behind. The federal 340B Drug Pricing Program is a clear example. Originally created to support safety-net hospitals and clinics serving low-income and uninsured patients, 340B has grown into a program riddled with fraud, abuse and waste.

The 340B plan was designed with a simple goal: Ensure that hospitals serving vulnerable communities could stretch scarce resources to provide medications and services to patients who might otherwise go without. But today, the program disproportionately benefits large hospital networks that use 340B discounts for profit rather than patient care. Some hospitals have opened satellite facilities in affluent areas, while cutting services in the very communities that qualified them for participation in the program. Meanwhile, pharmacy benefit managers and corporate pharmacy chains extract excessive profits from the program, further diminishing its impact.

The consequences of the current lack of oversight are real for Kansas families. When dollars meant to help patients are instead diverted for unrelated purposes, patients with mental illness and other chronic conditions face higher costs and reduced access to care. A program intended to protect the most vulnerable instead fuels waste in the federal system, an urgent problem for taxpayers and patients alike.

It is important to note that reforming the 340B program does not mean taking resources away from rural hospitals. In fact, if the program functioned as Congress originally intended, rural hospitals and the patients they serve would receive more support, not less. By restoring transparency and accountability, 340B savings could be directed where they are most needed: small, community-based hospitals and clinics that care for vulnerable populations.

Fortunately, there is a bipartisan movement to address these problems. In Washington, D.C., Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran has played an important role in the Gang of 6, a bipartisan group working to identify reforms that increase program integrity while protecting access for the patients who truly need it. Efforts like this, and legislation such as the 340B ACCESS Act being considered in the House, offer commonsense solutions improving reporting requirements, ensuring savings benefit patients and curbing practices that divert resources away from care.

Kansas taxpayers deserve a program that works as intended — one that serves patients rather than padding institutional profits. The 340B discount plan as it currently operates is a cautionary tale of how even well-intentioned federal programs can become vehicles for exploitation when oversight is weak. Reform is not about taking care away from hospitals serving vulnerable populations. It’s about restoring accountability and ensuring every dollar truly helps patients.

Mental health providers and advocates across Kansas see the human impact every day: untreated illness, delayed care and financial stress on families. Fixing the 340B program would help ensure that funds are directed to programs that improve access and outcomes, not into corporate pockets. It’s a rare opportunity for Congress to act in a bipartisan way to protect patients and taxpayers alike.

Sen. Moran’s leadership in the Senate Gang of 6 demonstrates that meaningful reform is possible. Kansas patients with mental illness, their families and all taxpayers stand to benefit if Congress passes commonsense reforms such as the 340B Affording Care for Communities and Ensuring a Strong Safety-Net or ACCESS Act, and follows through with Senate action to improve transparency and accountability.

The time for action is now. Kansas families deserve a 340B program that lives up to its promise: supporting the patients who need it most, ensuring access to critical medications and services, and restoring integrity to a federal program too long marred by abuse.

Chris Chastain is director of public policy and advocacy for the 501(c)(3) nonprofit National Alliance on Mental Illness Kansas.