APhA applauds BPC report

WASHINGTON A report by the Bipartisan Policy Leaders’ Project containing recommendations regarding chronic diseases has attracted praise from an organization representing the country’s pharmacists.

The American Pharmacists Association applauded the Bipartisan Policy Center’s report “Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System,” which gave several healthcare reform policy recommendations, organizing them around four “pillars” that emphasized quality, availability of insurance, personal health choices and healthcare financing. Former Senate majority leaders Howard Baker, R-Tenn., Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Bob Dole, R-Kan., founded the BPC in 2007.

“A large and growing proportion of our health spending is currently going toward chronic diseases, and the frequent occurrence of preventable and costly complications of these diseases creates an imperative to take major steps toward both clinical and population-based prevention,” a report citation under the third pillar read.

“We are pleased the Leaders’ Report acknowledges that chronic diseases are not optimally treated,” APhA EVP and CEO-designate Thomas Menighan said. “By working collaboratively with physicians and other healthcare providers, pharmacists can help patients better understand their medications and how to get the full benefit of their medication therapy.”

The Generic Pharmaceutical Association also praised the report, due to its endorsement of a regulatory approval pathway for biosimilars.

“This endorsement from three top former Senate leaders with extensive health policy experience sends an important message to Congress that the time has come to pass legislation that brings safe and affordable, lifesaving biogenerics to patients sooner rather than later,” GPhA president and CEO Kathleen Jaeger stated.