A panel of experts discussed the state and national effects that the drug pricing program known as 340B is having on the healthcare industry during a breakfast hosted by Colorado Politics in Downtown Denver this month.

The program developed in the 1990s allowing healthcare organizations to purchase discounted outpatient drugs to help low-income patients has grown into a system of abuse and misuse without government oversight, according to industry insiders.

The federal 340B Drug Pricing Program allows eligible healthcare organizations to purchase outpatient drugs at a discount from manufacturers. The program was established in 1992 as part of the Public Health Service Act.