ACCP Testifies Before House Committee on Appropriations

March 09, 2017

On Wednesday, March 8, 2017, ACCP Associate Executive Director C. Edwin Webb, Pharm.D., M.P.H., FNAP testified at a hearing in front of the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies.

Dr. Webb Testifies before the House Committee on Appropriations

The Appropriations Committee, along with its Senate counterpart, has jurisdiction over all government expenditures. The Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education controls overall spending for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the entire Medicare program, the federal portion of the Medicaid program, and agencies including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

In his testimony, Dr. Webb specifically urged the subcommittee to provide AHRQ with at least $334 million dollars in budget authority, consistent with current fiscal year levels. AHRQ is the only federal agency with the sole purpose of evaluating and disseminating research that determines how to make care as effective, efficient and affordable as possible. AHRQ supports research and communication programs that are perfectly aligned with ACCP’s commitment to advancing a patient-centered, collaborative health care approach that delivers better care, smarter spending, and healthier people.

Dr. Webb went on to highlight the critical need to integrate coverage for comprehensive medication management (CMM) within the Medicare program as part of the overall effort of moving all of healthcare to a more value-based, collaborative and efficient system.

L-R: Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Dr. Ed Webb, Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK)

The federal government is currently responsible for more than $1 trillion per year in health care spending, while mandatory programs (including Medicare) are projected to overwhelm the entire federal budget. Dr. Webb therefore urged the subcommittee to provide adequate resources to ensure that health care delivery organizations, health providers, policymakers, and the people they serve make informed choices about how to obtain the best care while addressing costs and protecting patient safety.

As part of this effort, ACCP called on Congress to take action to meaningfully address problems associated with suboptimal and inefficient medication use and truly help patients “get the medications right” by promoting and advancing coverage for CMM services delivered under collaborative, patient-centered payment and delivery structures.

Click here to view a video of Dr. Webb’s testimony.

Click here to read the testimony in full.