Thune speaks at a press conference in March. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Senate Minority Whip John Thune told Axios Tuesday that progress has been made on the Senate's 340B draft discussion bill and actual legislation could be released as soon as May.
Why it matters: It's one more step toward an overhaul of the drug discount program that Congress could take up during a lame-duck session.
The latest: "People are reacting to the discussion draft and making further sort of modifications to their feedback. And we're gonna take all that and distill it," Thune said.
He said the goal is a bill that "gets at the issues, hopefully removes some of the uncertainty, provide greater clarity and greater transparency in the program."
What we're watching: Last week, Thune told the American Hospital Association that 340B legislation could be attached to an end-of-year package, per Inside Health Policy.
A bipartisan Senate working group released a 340B discussion draft bill in February, but it didn't address some key areas, such as the definition of a 340B patient.
