Advocacy Update at the 2025 ACCP Annual Meeting: Advancing Pharmacy Practice and Compensation: Updates on Health Legislation and Payment Policy

Navigating the ever-changing US health care laws can be challenging. This advocacy presentation in Minneapolis will focus on recent major health care law updates affecting pharmacists that will keep them current, compliant, and informed. It will delve into federal and state regulatory changes and emerging trends, including updates on payment and policy reform initiatives, requirements for collaborative practice agreements or protocols by state, compensation for comprehensive clinical pharmacy services, and how recent legislation may affect clinical practice. Practicing pharmacists across all settings will have much to gain by attending this informative application-based session. Click here for more information!

When and Where: Monday, October 20, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. (CDT) at Northstar Ballroom A, 2nd Floor

Get Ready for the 2025 ACCP-PAC PRN Challenge!

Beginning October 1, 2025, in conjunction with the ACCP Annual Meeting, ACCP-PAC will launch the annual Political Action Committee (PAC) PRN Challenge to determine which PRNs can generate the greatest PAC support.

Throughout the challenge, PRN members who made a PAC contribution online can designate a PRN to receive credit for their contribution.

As a reminder, the 2024 challenge recognized 2 winners:

• The Community-Based PRN won for the total dollars raised!
• The Perioperative Care PRN won for the greatest percentage of PRN members who contributed!

The winning PRNs will receive coveted preferential time slots for their business meetings at a future ACCP Annual Meeting.

Why Does ACCP Have a PAC?

In 2010, the ACCP Board of Regents decided to establish ACCP-PAC to allow the College to be active in supporting the campaigns of members of Congress who share ACCP’s core values and policy vision, just as the College is active in asking for the support of these elected officials in helping to advance its shared policy goals. Running for federal office is expensive, and members of Congress rely on contributions from PACs to fund their campaigns.

Who Receives PAC Support?

ACCP-PAC is nonpartisan and supports candidates regardless of political party affiliation. ACCP-PAC supports candidates on the basis of certain established criteria:

• Position on key health care committees in Congress
• Proven support for pharmacy and health care–related issues
• Previous health care experience

The key health care–related committees in the House of Representatives are the Ways & Means and the Energy & Commerce committees; in the Senate, these are the Finance & the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions committees.

How Does ACCP Decide Which Candidates to Support?

ACCP-PAC is member driven, and its strategic policy decisions—including those related to which candidates receive financial contributions from ACCP-PAC—are made by the PAC Governing Council.

ACCP members who contribute to the PAC may recommend candidates to receive contributions. All PAC contributor recommendations will be considered; however, not all requests may be accommodated.

ACCP-PAC is also supported by its network of PAC captains who represent ACCP’s PRNs on advocacy and political action. The College is excited about this renewed effort to develop a core of focused leaders to drive participation in its advocacy efforts.

PAC Comparison: How Does ACCP-PAC Compare with Other Political Action Committees

A PAC is an essential tool for ACCP to use to participate effectively in the political process. Thanks to the ongoing generosity of ACCP members, at the end of the last reporting period, ACCP-PAC had $104,027.90 cash on hand to support political candidates and finance political communications. But how does ACCP-PAC compare with other PACs across various industries?

Other Health Care Political Heavyweights

The American Medical Association (AMA) remains one of the most powerful forces in domestic health care politics. However, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) also maintains a robust and well-funded political operation. Of interest, because of the “separate segregated fund” legal status that limits solicitations to individual members, practitioner organizations like AMA and AAFP (and ACCP) hold a distinct fundraising advantage over business trade groups like PhRMA, whose membership consists of corporations that cannot directly make PAC contributions.

Current Cash on Hand:

• AMA-PAC: $933,394.04
• AAFP-PAC: $337,372.07
• BluePAC (Blue Cross Blue Shield Association): $92,883.87
• Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America (PhRMA): $31,270.81

Other Pharmacy Groups

ACCP-PAC holds cash totals similar to its pharmacy peers. However, as ACCP makes use of these funds to support candidates who endorse its vision for medication optimization, the College will rely on the continued support of ACCP members to replenish its reserves and ensure the PAC remains competitive.

Current Cash on Hand:

• National Association of Chain Drug Stores PAC: $275,426.51
• NCPA-PAC: $212,215.94
• APhA-PAC: $167,251.34
• ASHP-PAC: $141,967.82

Outlook for ACCP-PAC in 2025

ACCP is confident it will receive solid, fundamental support on Capitol Hill for the core policy goal driving its effort to establish Medicare coverage for comprehensive clinical pharmacy services that optimize medication use for patients.

Consistent with ACCP’s recent President’s Column Standing for Science Without Taking Sides, ACCP-PAC is an essential advocacy and communications tool that allows ACCP to provide nonpartisan support for leaders on Capitol Hill who are standing up for science and working to maintain access to vital health care services for patients in communities throughout the country. It is essential that these leaders remain in Washington in the future to advance policies that meaningfully address the health care issues the nation currently faces.

PAC contributions are a constitutionally protected part of the US 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 more than 15,000 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 $50, ACCP-PAC would instantly establish itself as the most powerful pharmacy PAC in the United States. All ACCP members should consider contributing at least $50 to ACCP-PAC. CLICK HERE to support your PAC today!

Protect Federal Funding for Pharmacy Residency Programs: Rebuild America’s Health Care Schools Act

On Capitol Hill, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Reps. Darrin LaHood (R-IL) and Michelle Fischbach (R-MN) are leading an effort to protect Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) funding for pharmacy residency programs. These leaders in Congress have introduced the Rebuilding America’s Health Care Schools Act of 2025 (S. 1087, H.R. 1708).

We need your help. ACCP has developed a letter that you can send automatically to your elected leaders in Washington, D.C., so it should take less than 2 minutes for you to make a real impact! ACCP members have already sent over 2500 messages to Congress, but we need full participation for maximum impact!

State-by-State Advocacy Analysis

ACCP members in North Carolina have already sent an impressive 360 messages to Capitol Hill!

 Advocacy Activity by State

Act now to ask your senators and representative to cosponsor the Rebuilding America’s Health Care Schools Act of 2025!

Background

Since 2019, CMS has implemented changes to its auditing procedures for clinical pharmacy residency programs but has not updated its regulations or provided guidance on how residency programs can stay in compliance with these auditing procedures.

Medicare pass-through funding for postgraduate pharmacy residency programs is critical to ensure the sustainability of the clinical pharmacy profession. However, under these burdensome Medicare auditing procedures, many pharmacy residency programs have been stripped of funding. Thanks to clinical pharmacy’s advocacy efforts, ACCP’s friends in Congress recognize this problem and have introduced legislation that would prevent unnecessary funding clawbacks that would jeopardize pharmacy residency training.

How You Can Help

Take action now to send messages asking your senators and representative to cosponsor this bill and work to pass it into law.

Keep ACCP informed! Many ACCP members have already received responses from their members of Congress. Please send any responses you receive to ACCP’s team in Washington, D.C., at [email protected].

2025-2026 Healthcare Policy Fellow Laurel Uhomba, Pharm.D., MPH, MBA, Joins ACCP Team!

Laurel Uhomba, Pharm.D., MPH, MBA, joined ACCP’s team in the Washington, D.C., office to serve as the 2025-2026 American College of Clinical Pharmacy-American Society of Health-System Pharmacists-Virginia Commonwealth University Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellow Program.

Now in its 19th year, the 14-month fellow program in Washington, D.C., the only one of its kind in the nation, offers a unique opportunity for a pharmacist to serve as a staff member in Congress. Through orientation in the ACCP and ASHP government affairs offices, fellows have the opportunity to sharpen their skills in legislative evaluation, policy development, and research and professional writing while integrating theoretical knowledge with practical policy experience.

Uhomba joined the program after completing her PGY2 community-based pharmacy administration and leadership residency at Johns Hopkins Care at Home in Baltimore this past summer. With her diverse background in pharmacy and public health, Uhomba has become a well-established leader in advocating for health care equity. Her educational journey includes earning her Pharm.D. and MPH degrees from Samford University, as well as obtaining an MBA degree from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.

Throughout her career, Uhomba has worked to address health care disparities and improve access to care for populations that are medically underserved. Uhomba’s particular areas of interest include addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) and working to reduce health care inequities.

“Pharmacy deserts exemplify the intersection of SDOH and access to care, as many communities lack essential pharmacy services,” she said in her application. “Similarly, the 340B Drug Pricing Program is vital for enabling safety-net providers to serve underserved populations,” she wrote. “Protecting and optimizing this program is critical to ensuring equitable access to care.”

Her passion for tackling these issues stems from her personal experiences growing up as a first-generation Nigerian American, where she saw firsthand the struggle of “navigating a world that wasn’t always accommodating.” Uhomba credits her parents’ strength and determination as immigrants for shaping her drive to lead and serve:

As immigrants with limited English proficiency, they often relied on me to translate and advocate for them in everyday situations. Whether it was deciphering complex medical paperwork or negotiating utility bills, I learned early on the responsibility of supporting and speaking up for those who could not do so themselves.

In her career, Uhomba has worked to dismantle these barriers, particularly within marginalized communities. Her work with Johns Hopkins has involved improving patient outcomes through developing a standardized counseling workflow for high-risk, first-fill medications in outpatient pharmacies and ensuring patients receive timely, accurate information that empowers them to make informed decisions about their care.

As a fellow, Uhomba looks forward to expanding her advocacy work into the national arena.

“This fellowship offers an unparalleled opportunity to drive change at the intersection of health care and policy,” she wrote. “I believe that through this platform, I can create lasting reforms that impact health care access and equity across the nation.”

The fellowship program, directed by VCU School of Pharmacy Associate Professor Kristin Zimmerman, was founded in 2006 under the leadership of ACCP’s C. Edwin Webb, Pharm.D., MPH, FCCP. Over the years, it has produced a distinguished cohort of fellows who have gone on to make impacts in health care policy.

For more information about the ACCP-ASHP-VCU Congressional Healthcare Policy Fellowship, visit our website or contact Program Director Zimmerman at [email protected].