Former Senate leader Tom Daschle to address NACDS pharmacy event

ALEXANDRIA, Va. Former Senate majority leader and health reform advocate Tom Daschle will deliver the keynote address at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ 12th Annual Pharmacy and Technology Conference in August, the organization announced Wednesday.

Daschle, a S.D. Democrat who lost his powerful seat in Congress in the 2004 elections, was President Obama’s pick to head the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services until his nomination was derailed early this year over allegations of tax evasion. Since his days in the Senate, he has been a strong advocate of universal healthcare coverage, healthcare reform and a larger role for pharmacy in the health system.

Daschle also co-authored a book titled Critical: What We Can Do About the Health Crisis, detailing his proposals to overhaul the nation’s healthcare system. Among those proposals: creation of a federal board to oversee the healthcare system, modeled after the Federal Reserve Board and “independent from politics,” according to the former lawmaker.

"Senator Daschle is a healthcare expert,” said NACDS president and CEO Steven Anderson. “Who better to address the value of pharmacy in the healthcare reform debate than a former United States Senate leader, close confidant to President Obama and Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius, and active healthcare reform power-player in Washington, D.C.? Senator Daschle certainly fits the bill.”

Daschle will speak at the event’s Sunday morning business program Aug. 9. The pharmacy conference will be held from Aug. 8 to 11 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.