Policy Spotlight

Indispensable Support: Ascension’s Commitment to Affordable, Accessible Prescription Medications

Mike Wascovich, PharmD, MBA
Mike Wascovich, PharmD, MBA
Vice President & Chief Pharmacy Officer, Ascension

Ascension’s clinical model is centered on the patient-clinician relationship, making it easier for patients to navigate their health journey and access the care they need. From a pharmacy perspective, we work tirelessly to help patients afford and access the specific medicine that their individual treatment plan calls for. One of the ways we meet that Mission-driven goal is through the Ascension Rx Medication Assistance Team, which connects providers with patients’ prescription services, seamlessly improving access, coordination and safety. 

Our compassionate, personalized approach meets the needs of our patients and optimizes the health of the communities we serve. Ascension Rx fosters partnerships among clinicians and pharmacists to expand access to medications. This reduces the administrative burden on provider office staff for prior authorizations while addressing gaps when patients cannot afford the prescriptions they need. Ascension Rx also finds and secures financial assistance, typically coordinating through external applications and Drug Manufacturer Financial Assistance Programs, such as free drug, copay assistance, vouchers or coupons. 

It’s widely known that rising prescription drug prices pose a serious challenge to people across the nation. Notably, launch prices on newly approved medications more than doubled from 2021 to 2024, and list prices on popular prescription drugs in Medicare have nearly doubled since first entering the market. This is unsustainable. Much of our work through Ascension Rx reflects Ascension’s acknowledgement of the problem – and our commitment to helping patients navigate the associated challenges. 

Reforms are needed to address runaway prescription drug costs, and there is no silver bullet to fixing this issue. But as a mission-driven provider caring for patients today, Ascension is focused on maximizing the resources at our disposal so people and communities can benefit. 

The 340B Drug Pricing Program is one example of an effective tool we utilize to foster healthier communities. By allowing safety-net hospitals, including more than 50 Ascension facilities, to purchase certain outpatient drugs at discounted prices, the 340B program allows providers to stretch scarce resources to better meet patient and community needs, all at no expense to taxpayers.

For example, Ascension Rx offers qualifying patients a 340B-funded card to assist with prescription out-of-pocket expenses, even if the medications are not 340B-eligible, helping increase medication adherence, reduce hospital readmissions and increasing patient satisfaction. Across our ministry, Ascension hospitals are demonstrating the benefits of wide-ranging programs that 340B savings support: 

  • In Florida, Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola’s medication assistance card program has helped low-income patients fill nearly 9,000 prescriptions, saving them more than $2.1 million.
  • In Indiana, Ascension Saint Vincent established a Pharmacotherapy clinic to assist patients with medication access, education, and management of complex medication therapies. 
  • In Tennessee, Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford’s operates a charitable care pharmacy that dispenses free and low-cost medications to qualifying patients, providing more than 27,000 prescriptions to over 6,400 low-income and uninsured patients in the community in FY2024.
  • In Oklahoma, Ascension Saint John Sapulpa’s opened an outpatient infusion center, providing residents, including many Medicaid beneficiaries, with access to specialized IV therapy close to home.

While not a solution to rising drug prices, 340B is proven and effective, fulfilling its purpose of empowering safety-net hospitals to better serve their communities in ways that meet unique needs. That is why 340B deserves stronger federal and state protections, such as the recently introduced 340B Patients Act, to ensure patients will continue to reap its benefits. Especially with immense uncertainty around changes to Medicaid and the Individual Health Insurance Marketplace on the horizon, safeguarding 340B is more important than ever.

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