Share Your Health-Care Reform Ideas with the White House

3/19/2009

ASHP is partnering with state affiliates in Iowa, North Carolina, and California to ensure that pharmacists are active participants in upcoming forums sponsored by the Obama Administration.

The regional health care forums are being held to discuss strategies that should be included in health-care reform proposals. During a recent forum in Burlington, Vt. ASHP member Kevin Marvin emphasized the important role pharmacists can play in helping patients use medications safely and appropriately. Pharmacists also attend a forum in Dearborn, Mich.

All members are encouraged to visit HealthReform.gov and provide your ideas, thoughts, and questions for the upcoming forums. Questions submitted to the forums should address:

• Patient access to medications and pharmacists services, 
• The importance of creating a new reimbursement model that includes coverage for pharmacists’ medication-related patient care services, and 
• Funding programs that will make an investment in education and training for pharmacists.

The Society has developed a set of principles that it believes should be included in any proposal for health-care reform, and is educating congressional leaders and staff on the ways pharmacists’ medication expertise can benefit patients.

For more information about these issues contact ASHP’s Government Affairs staff at gad@ashp.org.

Click here to read ASHP’s Principles for Health Care Reform.