ACCP-PAC: Congratulations to Senator Welch on His Election Victory!

ACCP-PAC is the political voice of the clinical pharmacy profession. It is the only federal political action committee specifically dedicated to advancing the practice of clinical pharmacists and the care of their patients. In the buildup to the November midterm congressional elections, ACCP-PAC took the lead in providing bipartisan support for members of Congress who will work to advance coverage for clinical pharmacists’ services within the Medicare program.

Through your support for ACCP-PAC, the College can attend fundraising events to demonstrate its commitment to these important issues. Attending fundraisers provides a unique setting in which to educate members of Congress about the essential work that clinical pharmacists provide. ACCP-PAC recently participated in a fundraiser for Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT), who was running for the open Vermont Senate seat.

ACCP’s Director of Government Affairs, John McGlew (right), discusses Medicare payment reform efforts with Congressman Welch at a Capitol Hill fundraising event.

About Congressman Peter Welch (D-VT At-Large)

Welch has served as the representative for Vermont’s single congressional district since 2007 and, in November 2022, won the U.S. Senate election in Vermont to succeed retiring Sen. Patrick Leahy.

Welch previously sat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, where he gained a reputation as a leader on Medicare reform issues. The congressman introduced the Better Care, Lower Cost Act aimed at improving care for chronically ill Medicare beneficiaries and reforming the fee-for-service system to facilitate team-based care that helps patients achieve their clinical goals. The bill would establish a “Better Care Program,” offering traditional Medicare enrollees facing multiple chronic conditions the option to receive care tailored to their needs and preferences delivered by collaborative teams of health care professionals.

In 2016, Welch hosted a congressional briefing on behalf of ACCP titled “‘Getting the Medications Right’: An Essential Ingredient in Achieving the Goals of H.R. 4878 – the Medicare Better Care, Lower Cost Act.” At the briefing, ACCP arranged for a pharmacist-physician panel to travel from the congressman’s home state of Vermont to present on care delivery approaches to achieving medication optimization through formalized interprofessional practice structures composed of physicians and other health professionals providing direct patient care in collaboration with clinical pharmacists. This approach is recommended to Congress as essential for “getting the medications right” for patients, particularly those with complex and/or multiple chronic conditions and care needs.

More recently, Welch introduced the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act. This bipartisan and bicameral package aims to help expand patient access to important telehealth services that can lower health costs and make health care more efficient.

“Underserved areas in both rural and urban communities desperately need cost-effective solutions to address the gap in health services,” said Welch. “This bipartisan bill will address that gap by expanding telehealth to improve quality of care, increase access, and reduce costs across America,” he said, adding, “This is a commonsense step to make sure that our policies keep pace with our technology.”

About ACCP-PAC

ACCP’s Political Action Committee (PAC) allows the College to participate in political campaign activities that strengthen its relationships with key policy-makers on Capitol Hill. Providing financial support to influential leaders helps raise the profile of clinical pharmacy and demonstrates ACCP’s ideological commitment to its core mission.

To maximize its impact, ACCP must be strategic in targeting its limited resources on the health policy leaders best placed to advance its agenda. Here’s how ACCP’s leaders decide who should receive financial support.

Consistent with all of ACCP’s initiatives, ACCP-PAC is member driven and is managed by a Governing Council, which is responsible for decisions related to how PAC money is spent.

• ACCP-PAC is nonpartisan – committed to working with health policy leaders across all political parties and ideologies.
• ACCP-PAC supports candidates on the basis of their alignment with ACCP’s mission to advance the profession and improve human health through research, training, and education.
• ACCP-PAC strategically targets members of Congress who sit on committees with jurisdiction over health care. In the Senate, ACCP-PAC primarily supports members on the Finance Committee and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. In the House, ACCP-PAC focuses on those who sit on the Ways and Means Committee and the Energy and Commerce Committee.
• ACCP-PAC is committed to transparency – all contributions are reported to the Federal Election Commission, and the information is available to the public.

Outlook for ACCP-PAC in 2023

Despite the well-documented political dysfunction in Washington, ACCP is confident that solid, fundamental support exists on Capitol Hill for the core policy driving its effort to establish Medicare coverage for clinical pharmacists’ services that optimize medication use for patients.

PAC contributions are a constitutionally protected part of the U.S. political system under the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. ACCP-PAC is the only means through which the College can provide financial support for candidates for Congress. With its almost 18,000 members, ACCP is in a position to become one of the most prominent pharmacy PACs in Washington. To do this, the College needs the widespread support of its membership. If each ACCP member contributed just $25, ACCP-PAC would raise over $450,000. All ACCP members should consider contributing at least $25 to ACCP-PAC. CLICK HERE to support your PAC today!