Building America’s Future is running a mid-six-figure ad push accusing hospitals of gaming the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program and turning a safety net into a profit machine. The campaign hits just before a Senate HELP Committee hearing and calls out Republican senators who are pushing reforms. It uses a stark Vermont example and points to critics who say patients rarely see the program’s intended benefits. The messaging ties into broader conservative concerns about fraud, kids’ healthcare, and border security.
Excerpt: A conservative nonprofit is taking aim at 340B abuses, praising GOP senators and spotlighting cases where hospitals allegedly marked up drugs massively and redirected funds to partisan projects and controversial care.
Building America’s Future, which backs America First policies, has stepped up a targeted campaign to pressure lawmakers to fix 340B. The group’s 30-second spot calls out hospitals that it says turned a charity discount into a revenue stream, and the ads run in D.C. and battleground states ahead of a key Senate hearing. The tone is blunt: stop the rip-offs and make hospitals accountable to patients, not political causes.
The ad highlights an eye-popping case from a Vermont State House report where Rutland Regional Medical Center allegedly marked up a Crohn’s disease drug from $8,000 to $96,000 — a 1,200 percent increase. That single example is the kind of math conservatives argue proves the system has been hijacked by big institutions. The argument is simple: if the discount meant to help the poor is turning into huge hospital profits, then the program needs serious reform.
The spot includes a recorded line that must be preserved verbatim: “Certain hospitals and clinics exploit a charity program called 340B,” the ad narrates. “They mark up medicine and we pay more for insurance and taxes…No one knows where the money goes.” The ad then accuses those funds of supporting left-wing projects instead of low-income patients, and it thanks Republican senators for pushing changes.
The senators called out for standing up in the ad are listed by name: Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Tim Scott (R-SC), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Jim Banks (R-IN), Jon Husted (R-OH), and Ashley Moody (R-FL). The campaign explicitly praises them for “standing up for us” and “putting patients over profits,” framing the effort as a pro-patient, pro-taxpayer push aligned with conservative priorities.
Conservative activists have been on this issue for months, arguing 340B shifted from helping the poor to subsidizing expensive hospital services and other spending. Critics inside and outside government have raised alarms, and even HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. testified that the program is “not a straightforward program” and patients “seldom get the benefits of the drug reduction.” Those lines are part of the public record and fuel the call for audits and tighter rules.
Where it gets especially hot politically is the allegation that some 340B funds end up supporting gender transition care for minors and services for illegal immigrants. Riley Gaines, the former swimmer turned advocate, posted on X about a Kentucky CVS allegedly funneling 340B dollars to a Massachusetts provider promoting gender transitions for kids.
Donald Trump Jr. reacted sharply online with the exact quote “WTF!???,” expressing disbelief that this would happen in red states. These reactions show how the 340B debate has become a flashpoint for culture and politics, not just healthcare policy.
A Breitbart report earlier this year also alleged abuses at Sanford Health in North Dakota, claiming 340B cash was used in ways critics say stretch the program’s intent. On the policy front, President Trump has pushed reforms aimed at stopping hospitals from gaming the system and inflating costs. The recent “One Big Beautiful Bill” proposal includes $50 billion for rural hospitals, and conservatives argue that pouring money into a broken program lets the powerful keep gaming the rules.
Building America’s Future has used hard-hitting tactics before, from box trucks outside statehouses to ads that call attention to care for minors and immigration-related spending tied to 340B. Their polling suggests Republicans are fed up with lawmakers who seem to cozy up to the program’s beneficiaries. The campaign blends grassroots tactics with digital and outdoor advertising meant to sway both voters and legislators.
As the Senate prepares for the hearing, conservative activists and lawmakers say they want accountability, transparency, and a return to the program’s original mission of helping low-income patients. With studies alleging billions sheltered or funneled off-course and multiple investigations under way, the conservative message is that reform is long overdue. Watch the full ad here:
