Discuss the president's HCR proposal and express your support for
pharmacist clinical services
Obama plan silent on pharmacy provisions included in House and
Senate bills.
On Monday, President Obama released his health care reform proposal
in preparation for his February 25 bipartisan White House Summit, which
is intended to revive the stalled health care reform (HCR) discussions.
This proposal is not a comprehensive health care reform bill (i.e.,
statutory and/or legislative language). Rather, the Obama plan is
a collection of changes to the Senate-passed Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), which incorporates certain provisions
from the House HCR bill (H.R.3962), new proposals not addressed by
either chamber, and modifications to the Senate provisions. In short,
Obama's proposal is framed as a targeted set of changes to the
Senate bill and the changes to these provisions could
ultimately be included in budget reconciliation legislation.
Reports indicate that Obama's proposal is silent on many
noncontroversial issues already addressed in the House and Senate bills,
such as the provisions to expand patient access to pharmacist clinical
services. We won't know if medication therapy management is included in
the President's proposal until we see the legislative language.
As Members of Congress and the White House continue to work
on HCR, we need to continue to show our support to ensure these
provisions are included and secured in the HCR bill. We
encourage you to join today's 1:45 p.m.
(EST) White House discussion on the president's HCR proposal
and express your support for pharmacist clinical services.
Join the chat via Facebook or
at WhiteHouse.gov.
Recommended Questions (Choose one):
- Does the President's proposal recognize a clinical role for
pharmacists?
- Does the President's proposal support the inclusion of pharmacists,
the medication use experts, as providers of clinical services in
integrated care models, such as medical homes?
- How does the President's proposal plan to reduce hospital
readmission rates and does this plan envision the inclusion of
pharmacists, the medication use experts, in transitional care
activities?
- As the 3rd largest health care profession and the profession with
the expertise on the primary form of therapy - medications- are
pharmacists included in workforce provisions in the President's
proposal? If so, where?
Recommended Comments (Limit to one or two):
- As the White House pursues health care reform, I urge continued
support for strong polices to ensure Americans continue to enjoy access
to the vital products and services offered by pharmacists.
- Pharmacists are the most accessible providers in our health care
system, and have a key role to play in improving Americans' health
through preventative services, the safe and efficient delivery of
prescription medications and other health care products and through
counseling services which help patients take their medications most
effectively.
- Research indicates the failure to take medicines as prescribed is
major problem in our health system. Poor medication adherence costs the
U.S. approximately $290 billion annually, equaling 13% of total
healthcare expenditures (New England Healthcare Institute,
2009). A large portion of this spending stems from avoidable and costly
health complications resulting from poor adherence. These circumstances
seriously undermine quality of life, quality of care and patient
outcomes. Any successful healthcare reform effort must include strong
steps to improve patient adherence to medication, particularly for those
with chronic disease.
- Pharmacist-provided medication therapy management improves
therapeutic outcomes while reducing costly medical services, such as
emergency room visits and unnecessary physician visits. In one study,
for every $1 invested in MTM programs, overall healthcare costs
were reduced by $12. In 2003, Congress recognized the value of
MTM when it required Part D plans to offer this service under the
Medicare Modernization Act (MMA). Clearly, increasing access to MTM is
one important way to improve the health system.
- Congress has recognized the importance of this issue through
provisions in both the House and Senate health reform bills that
encourage medication therapy management (MTM) in the treatment
of chronic disease and in community health teams that support medical
homes. Both the House and Senate also include a series of grant programs
in their health reform bills to encourage pharmacist-provided MTM as
part of coordinated care models and chronic disease initiatives.
Provisions of the Senate bill would also improve the MTM benefit in
Medicare Part D and establish a bonus payment for Medicare Advantage
plans that promote MTM.
Thank you in advance for your efforts.
Related resources on www.pharmacist.com:
APhA Government Affairs Staff
Posted February 24, 2010, 12:05 pm EST
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