Typically, at the end of a hard-fought, drawn-out contest, we look for words of inspiration from those who emerged victorious. But as the 2020 presidential election meanders to its unprecedented conclusion, the thoughts of Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) seem uniquely relevant. Romney, as the Republican nominee in 2012, saw his dignified presidential bid fall short to the victorious Obama-Biden ticket. Romney recently expressed his concern on Twitter over the tone and rhetoric of our current political landscape: “I’m troubled by our politics, as it has moved away from spirited debate to a vile, vituperative, hate-filled morass that is unbecoming of any free nation – let alone the birthplace of modern democracy.”

ACCP is a nonpartisan organization that embraces opportunities to work with policy leaders from across the political spectrum who represent diverse and sometimes conflicting ideologies. In this pursuit, ACCP seeks to advance a team-based model of patient care that achieves medication optimization. Therefore, the College’s strategic decision to “rise above” politics for the duration of the campaign was straightforward. We suspended our traditional Political Action Committee (PAC) fundraising efforts and made a conscious decision not to pursue opportunistic efforts to shoehorn Medicare reform that would cover pharmacists’ services. Similarly, we made a conscious decision not to allow Medicare reform to spiral into a highly contentious legislative effort on Capitol Hill. Instead, we paused our efforts in order to allow our lawmakers to provide economic relief to those struggling under the pandemic. Throughout the election campaign, we remained focused on intra- and interprofessional efforts to respond to and alleviate the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

As it stands, former Vice President Joe Biden will be inaugurated on January 20, 2021, as the 46th president of the United States. In the U.S. House of Representatives, the Democratic Party is expected to retain the majority, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (CA). Control of the Senate will be determined by two runoff elections held in Georgia on January 5, but the expectation on both sides of the aisle is that the Republican Party, led by Senator Mitch McConnell (KY), will remain in the majority.

ACCP’s advocacy efforts go well beyond targeting Congress in pursuit of legislation to amend the Social Security Act to establish coverage for comprehensive medication management (CMM) delivered by qualified clinical pharmacists working under collaborative practice structures.

Over the past 5 years, we’ve also worked to strengthen and expand the efforts already under way to test innovative approaches to integrating CMM through Medicare alternative payment models and building relationships with physician groups, other provider and specialty organizations, private payers, and other key stakeholders to advance this initiative.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (the “Innovation Center”) was established under the Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”) to test the feasibility of implementing “innovative payment and service delivery models to reduce program expenditures … while preserving or enhancing the quality of care” for individuals who receive Medicare, Medicaid, or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) benefits.

Within the Innovation Center, Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) is a national advanced primary care medical home model that aims to strengthen primary care through regionally based multi-payer payment reform and care delivery transformation. Currently, 2965 primary care practices participate in CPC+ across 18 regions. Of importance, CMS includes the requirement that practices develop a plan to provide CMM to patients discharged from the hospital and those receiving longitudinal care management.

CMS’s inclusion of CMM is another example of ACCP’s progress in helping to advance CMM as an essential professional activity for effective integrated primary care. ACCP remains focused on efforts to educate lawmakers on Capitol Hill about innovative solutions to modernize Medicare, including coverage for CMM services. However, in devoting resources to support the advancement of CMM across multiple payers and settings, our strategy recognizes that entities such as the Innovation Center exist precisely to pilot the integrated, advanced payment models that ACCP endorses. We are committed to working with thoughtful leaders from across the political spectrum to advance an evidence-based approach to developing, positioning, and advancing clinical pharmacists.