CancerCare® and Pioneer Institute Release Study on the Financial Outcomes and Community Benefit in the 340B Program: Comparing 340B and Non-340B Hospitals

NEW YORK, May 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CancerCare^®, in partnership with Pioneer Institute, released findings from their study showing 340B hospitals, on average, provide less direct financial assistance in charity and uncompensated care to patients than non-340B hospitals, validating the need for federal policy reforms that ensure the 340B program fulfills its intended purpose of serving low-income and uninsured patients.

The study, "Financial Outcomes and Community Benefit in the 340B Program: Comparing 340B and Non-340B Hospitals," analyzed 2023 RAND Corporation hospital financial data across 3,999 hospitals nationwide and among different categories of 340B qualifying hospitals.

The challenge to reconcile 340B hospitals' failure to uniformly use the program's savings to provide more charity and uncompensated care to low-income and uninsured patients than non-340B hospitals not receiving steep discounts is further exacerbated when considering the additional financial benefits conferred upon 340B hospitals by their tax-exempt status.

"340B was designed to expand access for low-income and uninsured patients, but our research with CancerCare suggests the program is not consistently meeting that goal," said Robert Popovian, PharmD, MS, Senior Visiting Fellow, Pioneer Institute. "We found that 340B hospitals provided lower average charity care and uncompensated care than non-340B hospitals, underscoring the need for greater transparency and accountability."

Providing further context for requiring transparency and accountability reforms, the study's finding that 340B hospitals provided less charity care than non-340B hospitals is despite 340B hospitals having slightly higher levels of engagement with Medicaid patients.

"A program which once worked well, 340B is now problematic for some hospitals in its size, function, and outcomes," said William Smith, PhD, Senior Fellow, Pioneer Institute. "The deep discounts once given to and used by 340B hospitals in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods to help underserved patients are now arbitraged by some hospitals into billions of dollars in 340B revenue and simultaneously these are hospitals providing lower and insufficient levels of charity care to underserved patients."

"CancerCare speaks with patients every day who struggle to overcome financial and other access barriers standing between them and the care they need to treat their cancer," said Kim Czubaruk, JD, Vice President of Policy, CancerCare. "The purpose of the 340B program is for participating hospitals to use the savings from the drug discounts to provide comprehensive services to a greater number of vulnerable patients. As access to cancer care gets further out of reach for more people, it is imperative that meaningful reforms to 340B be implemented at the federal level to ensure the program fulfills its intended purpose and serves both a societal and human need."

The full study is available here: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.02.12.26346191v1.full.pdf

About CancerCare^®
For over 80 years, CancerCare has empowered millions of people affected by cancer through free counseling, support groups, educational resources, advocacy and financial assistance. Our oncology social workers improve the lives of people diagnosed with cancer, caregivers, survivors and the bereaved by addressing their emotional, practical and financial challenges. To learn more, visit www.cancercare.org.

About Pioneer Institute

Pioneer empowers Americans with choices and opportunities to live freely and thrive. Working with state policymakers, we use expert research, educational initiatives, legal action and coalition-building to advance human potential in four critical areas: K-12 Education, Health, Economic Opportunity, and American Civic Values.

Media Contact:
Amanda Shlosberg
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SOURCE CancerCare