Advocate for Pharmacist Provisions President’s HCR Proposal

A summary of the health care reform proposal released today by the White House offers few details about whether proposals that would expand patient access to pharmacists’ services will be a part of new legislation.

The summary, which is available on the White House website, appears in large part to be similar to the Senate version of health care reform. The proposal does not include a public plan option, but does include an excise tax on higher level (Cadillac) health plans. The proposal delays the tax until 2018. The proposal also closes the Medicare Part D doughnut hole, eliminates the Senate bill’s Nebraska Medicaid deal, and lowers the penalty for individuals who do not purchase insurance.

The summary does not drill down to the level of detail that bill language would on several issues of importance to health-system pharmacists, namely the delivery system reforms currently in both House and Senate bills that utilize the medication use expertise of pharmacists. We do not yet know the status of the medication therapy management grant program, the medical home model, or the independence at home provisions. In bills passed by the House and Senate, these provisions include the medication related services of pharmacists.

ASHP members are urged to contact their congressional representatives to ask them to retain provisions that would allow pharmacists to have a greater role in improving medication use.

Article : Pharmacy’s Fate Unknown in President’s Health Care Reform Proposal.