On November 30, 2018, the Department for Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Health Resources and Services Administration (“HRSA”) will publish its final rule to change the effective date for its 340B Drug Pricing Program ceiling price and manufacturer civil monetary penalty final rule to January 1, 2019.

After two years of proposed rulemaking, HHS published a final rule on January 5, 2017 outlining requirements of manufacturers to calculate the 340B ceiling price for a covered outpatient drug and the process by which HRSA can levy civil monetary penalties on drug manufacturers for knowingly and intentionally charging beyond the statutory ceiling price. This final rule was initially announced to be effective March 6, 2017 but was delayed on several instances. HHS’s most recent delay was announced on June 5, 2018, when HHS published a second final rule delaying the regulation’s effective date until July 1, 2019 so it could develop “comprehensive policies to address the rising costs of prescription drugs.” HHS then issued a proposed rule on November 2, 2018 soliciting comments on potentially changing the effective date from July 1, 2019 to January 1, 2019 to eliminate further delay. HHS’s latest announcement solidifies the effective date as January 1, 2019.

HHS maintains that finalizing the 340B ceiling price and civil monetary penalty rule will not interfere with its plan to develop separate drug pricing policies. Commenters expressed concern that HHS has not established adequate guidance to implement the rule appropriately, responded to public questions, or provided adequate rationale for its change of view on the need for additional rulemaking. HHS addressed these concerns by explaining that issuing additional guidance is unnecessary to implement the rule and that it would be more efficient for the rule to go into effect sooner and to “assess the need for further rulemaking and guidance after the rule is in effect.” Other commenters feared that they would be unable to achieve compliance in time for a January 1, 2019 effective date. HHS responded that, since HHS published the initial final rule in January 2017, these stakeholders have had “sufficient time” to adjust their systems and update their policies and procedures.

After January 1, 2019, drug manufacturers must calculate the 340B ceiling price for covered drugs on a quarterly basis consistent with the January 5, 2017 final rule. Most significantly, drug manufacturers will newly be subject to financial sanctions for knowingly and intentionally overcharging a covered entity, although HRSA anticipates using such penalties in “rare situations.”