LYNN– At a recent State House briefing hosted by the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, healthcare leaders gathered to discuss the future of the 340B Drug Pricing Program, a critical funding stream for community health providers.
Among them was Brenda Rodriguez, CEO of Lynn Community Health Center, who delivered a stark message about what is at stake for patients in Lynn and similar communities.
Rodriguez emphasized that the 340B program is not a supplemental benefit, but a foundational component of how community health centers operate.
340B is a federal program that requires pharmaceutical manufacturers to provide discounted medications to eligible healthcare providers, including community health centers, hospitals, and safety-net clinics.
Created to help providers stretch limited resources, the program allows these organizations to use the savings from lower drug costs to expand services, improve care, and make medications more affordable for uninsured and low-income patients.
“340B is not extra income for health centers like Lynn Community Health Center,” she told lawmakers. “It is integral in the design of how we deliver care.”
The program allows eligible providers to purchase medications at reduced costs, enabling them to stretch limited resources and reinvest savings into expanded services.
For Lynn Community Health Center, those reinvestments include everything from dental care and behavioral health services to advanced care coordination and technology systems.
Rodriguez described her visit to the State House as both educational and urgent.
“Part of it was really…imploring them to understand the severity of what would happen if the 340B program were to go away,” she said, pointing to the disproportionate impact such changes would have on underserved communities.
In Lynn, that impact is especially pronounced. Rodriguez called the city a “pharmacy desert,” noting that large retail chains have steadily withdrawn from similar communities.
In their absence, community health centers have stepped in to fill the gap.
“We basically process prescriptions for all uninsured and public insured patients and community residents,” she explained. “We have this…duty of care that no other pharmacy (provides),”
That responsibility extends beyond dispensing medication. The health center processes hundreds of thousands of prescriptions annually and ensures patients with complex medical needs can access and afford their treatments.
Without 340B savings, Rodriguez warned, the system could collapse.
“When I tell you it’s life-saving, it’s life-saving,” she said of the program. “If you can imagine an asset like that, our pharmacy would go away.”
The loss would ripple across the entire healthcare ecosystem. Rodriguez noted that 340B funding supports not only medications but also staffing, infrastructure, and technology.
For example, electronic health record systems used to track patient outcomes, identify care gaps, and coordinate follow-ups are partially sustained through these funds.
“We wouldn’t be able to do that,” she said, referring to population health tools that identify patients with uncontrolled conditions like diabetes or hypertension. “This is a 340B that helps us even have the technology…to know who we need to outreach to.”
The program also enables more comprehensive, “whole person” care. Rodriguez pointed to maternal health services as a key example.
At Lynn Community Health Center, physicians follow patients throughout pregnancy, addressing complications such as gestational diabetes and hypertension while ensuring continuity of care through delivery and postpartum follow-ups.
“All of that care coordination, all of that follow-up, that is paid with 340B funds,” she said.
Without such support, services would likely be scaled back to basic visits, limiting access and pushing more patients into already overburdened emergency departments.
Rodriguez described scenarios in which patients with urgent needs, such as dental emergencies, would be redirected elsewhere. Beyond patient care, Rodriguez underscored the program’s role in strengthening local economies.
Because community health centers often hire from within the communities they serve, 340B funding acts as a “workforce innovation multiplier,” supporting jobs for clinical staff, community health workers, and other essential roles.
Despite its benefits, the 340B program has faced increasing scrutiny and policy challenges in recent years. Critics have raised concerns about oversight and potential misuse of funds.
Rodriguez acknowledged those concerns but drew a clear distinction between community health centers and other entities participating in the program.
“Not with community health centers,” she stated, responding to allegations of misuse.
She explained that federally qualified health centers operate under strict accountability measures, including patient-majority governing boards and extensive federal and state audits. “We are designed…to prevent that misuse,” she added.
Rodriguez also pointed out a disparity in how 340B funds are distributed. Community health centers, she said, receive a disproportionately small share, which is less than 8%, despite serving some of the most medically complex and vulnerable populations.
“We get the least,” she said. “You would think…we should get a huge amount of the 340B savings. We get the least.”
For now, Rodriguez and her colleagues are focused primarily on preserving the program rather than expanding it. “Right now it’s really about protecting it,” she said, noting that community health centers often lack the lobbying resources of larger healthcare systems.
Her message to lawmakers and to Lynn residents is straightforward: protect 340B to protect access to care.
“We use it to get our care…to stay healthy,” she added.
As policymakers weigh potential changes, Rodriguez warned that weakening the program could have unintended consequences, including higher healthcare costs and reduced access for those who need it most.
“Health centers are already the low-cost, high-value provider in this whole ecosystem,” she said.
“Stripping the 340B…is just very foolhardy because…all it would do is increase costs downstream,” she added.
For communities like Lynn, the stakes could not be higher. “We are your health safety net,” Rodriguez emphasized. “If we don’t fight for that for Lynn…who is going to fight for our community?”
