As a longtime community advocate working in Pueblo and throughout Southern Colorado, I’ve seen how healthcare systems can lift up families—or leave them behind. That’s why I’m speaking out about the 340B Drug Pricing Program. It was created to help safety-net providers serve low-income patients by giving them access to discounted prescription drugs. But the system is now broken—and Colorado patients are paying the price.
Instead of passing those savings on to the people who need them, too many hospitals are using 340B to boost profits. Some markup cancer drugs by more than 1,000% or charge union health plans 25 times the average price. These practices hurt working families and small businesses already struggling with rising healthcare costs.
One of the biggest problems is the unchecked use of contract pharmacies. Originally meant to improve access in rural and underserved communities, these arrangements have exploded in number—and many now operate in wealthy areas far from the patients 340B was meant to help. Patients often don’t know they’re receiving 340B drugs, and they never see the savings. Meanwhile, hospitals and pharmacies split the profits behind closed doors.
Senator Hickenlooper has shown real leadership by joining a bipartisan effort to investigate and reform this program. I urge him to keep pushing forward. We need clear oversight, real accountability, and a guarantee that the benefits of 340B actually reach patients.
Let’s get this program back to what it was meant to do—support the vulnerable, not enrich the powerful.
Sincerely,
Rudy Gonzales, President - Servicios De La Raza - Denver
