The following statement can be attributed to Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association, which represents 129 hospitals and health systems across Michigan:
“This latest release from the Michigan Health Purchasers Coalition is yet another entry in their long and troubling pattern of advocacy dressed as research, with predetermined conclusions in search of supporting data. MIHPC is a secretive special interest group, hiding behind the veil of claiming to represent the employer community at large. The report they are citing is not peer-reviewed and, by its own admission, fails to account for major health system variables – variables so significant that their omission alone disqualifies any direct causal claim between 340B participation and pricing differences. If MIHPC and its members are genuinely concerned about affordability, I invite them to direct some of that energy toward drug companies, whose profit margins dwarf those of any hospital system in this state and who spent years deploying every available legal mechanism to delay competition and protect their revenues. These drug companies have the power to make drugs affordable for all Michiganders today.
The MHA and our members remain, as we always have been, ready to engage with anyone willing to have an honest, evidence-based conversation about addressing the real drivers behind rising healthcare costs – all while caring for all Michiganders across the state 24/7.”