ACCP considers the PRNs one of its major strengths as an organization. ACCP’s PRN members collectively possess a depth of clinical knowledge and expertise that substantially contribute to the College’s success.
Just as the PRNs are a vital resource for our strategic mission to develop, advance, and position clinical pharmacists, so too are PRN members essential to our advocacy efforts around the pursuit of achieving recognition of pharmacists’ direct patient care services as a covered Medicare benefit.
Our advocacy message focuses on the belief that, to ensure patient-centered, interprofessional health care teams “get the medications right,” qualified clinical pharmacists must be fully integrated into care delivery.
As we define a consistent standard of practice that we believe can help the Medicare program deliver on its “Triple Aim” of better care for patients, better outcomes for populations, and lower costs for the program, there are no better advocates for this effort than the clinical leaders who deliver these services to patients across the country.
For more information on ACCP’s advocacy effort, visit our Medicare Coverage Initiative page at http://www.accp.com/govt/medicare.aspx. To learn how you can get more involved in this effort, visit our Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/accp/home/.
Outlook for the 113th Congress
The challenging political environment in which we are working to advance our initiative underscores the necessity of PRN members becoming actively engaged as advocates on behalf of the profession.
The need to address our nation’s budget deficit dominates the political landscape in Washington. The legislative branch, which once reveled in bloated spending measures weighed down with earmarks and “pork,” is under immense pressure to slash spending. Of note, the formerly dominant House and Senate Appropriations Committees, whose chairmen consolidated their own political power through control over annual spending bills, have seen their stature decline as Congress has scaled back its expenditures.1
The $85 billion in spending cuts under the terms of the sequestration triggered by the failure of Congress to reach a comprehensive debt-reduction deal by a self-imposed March 1 deadline points to the ongoing stalemate in Washington. Sequestration, after all, was never intended as a solution to government spending but rather was conceived in the hope that the threat of sweeping, across-the-board cuts would encourage both sides to reach a compromise.
Dramatic differences between the House and Senate fiscal 2014 budget resolutions further indicate that political Washington remains as gridlocked as the traffic on its notorious Beltway.
However, leaders from both parties have expressed cautious optimism that a solution may be reached.
Early in March, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) proposed a deal that would avert a government shutdown when the continuing resolution currently funding government operations expires on March 27.2
Responding to criticism about the president’s failure to work effectively with Congress, the White House launched its own “charm offensive,” including several meetings with key congressional Republicans, which initially yielded favorable feedback. Of importance, the Obama administration has increasingly referred to entitlement reform, in addition to revenue increases, as part of its overall platform for deficit reduction.3
Discussion on the Hill (including a series of important committee hearings) regarding entitlement reform and the need to address the system of Medicare payment, rather than simply propose cuts to the program itself, suggests that Medicare reform legislation will advance with this Congress.
ACCP believes that our Medicare initiative focusing on “getting the medications right” for Medicare beneficiaries is closely aligned with the quality-based, patient-centered, multiprofessional approach to care that policy-makers already acknowledge as necessary to preserve the long-term integrity of the Medicare program.
Despite the challenging political environment, we are optimistic that with the full engagement of our members, our effort will ultimately be successful.
Advancing Our Medicare Initiative Through Grassroots Action
We believe that our investment in our Washington office and advocacy activities for the past 12 years leaves us well placed to move our initiative forward. But our success ultimately lies in the engagement of ACCP members to help their elected officials understand the importance of getting the medications right as part of patient-centered, team-based models of care delivery.
With more than 13,000 members, not to mention their professional colleagues and patients, ACCP has the potential to exert considerable influence on Capitol Hill. But to realize this potential, we need the active participation of all our members as grassroots advocates.
Identifying Political Champions
In seeking potential champions to advance our initiative in Congress, we need to identify elected officials who not only share our vision of a more patient-centered, team-based, and quality-focused approach to Medicare but also sit on the congressional committees of jurisdiction over the Medicare program itself.
In the House of Representatives, jurisdiction over Medicare is shared between the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Committee on Ways and Means. In the Senate, the Finance Committee oversees Medicare issues. Members who sit on these committees are best placed to introduce legislation on behalf of ACCP and work to ensure its passage into law.
Click here to view the members of the Senate Finance Committee
Click here to view the members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
Click here to view the members of the House Ways and Means Committee
In addition, legislation would ideally be introduced in a bipartisan manner, meaning a Republican and a Democrat from a committee of jurisdiction would work together to cosponsor a bill on our behalf. Although we acknowledge the challenge of identifying bipartisan cosponsors from the key committees of jurisdiction, we have taken care to ensure our legislative proposal is entirely nonpartisan and focused on issues that members from both parties can agree on—improving quality and lowering costs in the Medicare program.
To determine whether your elected officials sit on a committee of jurisdiction, visit our Legislative Action Center and enter your zip code to view your congressional delegation. Check your work zip codes as well as your home address—especially if you practice at several sites. Members of Congress will be interested to learn about innovative, cost-saving care delivery going on in their district, even if you are not a constituent residing in that district.
ACCP’s Step-by-Step Guide to Hosting a Visit of Elected Officials to Your Practice
A key element in the internal ACCP discussion leading up to the launch of our legislative initiative was around the need to develop a consistent, standardized process of patient care—recognition that clinical pharmacists’ contributions to patient care are often difficult to define and could act as a barrier to achieving recognition and payment for those services.
If this definitional question persists even within the health care community, it is understandable that lawmakers in Congress might struggle to grasp what we are proposing when we call for Medicare Part B coverage of comprehensive medication management services delivered by qualified clinical pharmacists.
Hosting a visit of your elected officials to your practice is perhaps the single most important thing you can do to help lawmakers understand what team-based, patient-centered clinical practice is all about—and to generate their support for recognition and payment for clinical pharmacists’ services.
A visit also serves as a means to establish an ongoing constructive dialogue with your congressman or senator, and his or her staff, on issues important to the delivery of team-based, patient-centered care.
A comprehensive guide to inviting a member of Congress to tour your practice site is available on our Legislative Action Center. If you would like to discuss the process of hosting a lawmaker at your practice site, please contact John McGlew at (202) 621-1820 or [email protected].
All ACCP members are urged to consider inviting their elected officials to learn more about their practice through a tour of their practice site.
Advancing Our Medicare Initiative Through the ACCP Political Action Committee (ACCP-PAC)
There is a widely used analogy of advocacy as a three-legged stool—with the three legs consisting of direct lobbying, grassroots action, and financial support for candidates.
Political contributions are an essential component of our grassroots advocacy toolkit, helping to raise our profile on Capitol Hill and show our support for members of Congress who share our vision for clinical pharmacists in an evolving Medicare program.
A well-funded PAC can be used to show the support within the profession for our legislative initiative and the importance that ACCP members attach to moving it forward in Congress.
ACCP-PAC depends entirely on the support of ACCP members. Although several PACs represent various segments of the pharmacy profession, ACCP has the only PAC dedicated to advancing the practice of clinical pharmacy.
If each ACCP member contributes just $25, ACCP-PAC will raise $300,000. All ACCP members should consider donating at least $25 to ACCP-PAC. CLICK HERE to support your PAC today!
Contact Us!
For more information on any of ACCP’s advocacy efforts, please contact:
John K. McGlew
Associate Director, Government Affairs
American College of Clinical Pharmacy
1455 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20004-1017
(202) 621-1820
[email protected]
References
- Huffington Post Article. Patrick Leahy Won’t Head Senate Appropriations Committee, Chooses to Remain Senate Judiciary Chair. December 19, 2012. Available here. Accessed March 14, 2013.
- Washington Post Article. Deal to Avert Government Shutdown Likely, Officials Say. March 3, 2013. Available here. Accessed March 14, 2013.
- Washington Post Article. Obama Picked Up GOP Senators’ Dinner Tab. March 6, 2013. Available here. Accessed March 14, 2013.