AMCP CEO Address: AMCP CEO Susan A. Cantrell, RPh, CAE addressed the AMCP 2019 Annual Meeting on March 26, laying out how AMCP is prepared to meet the challenges of today’s complex health care system. The following is a lightly edited transcript of that address.
March 2019 News & Views: AMCP’s Revitalized Brand To Be Unveiled at Annual Meeting General Session; AMCP Volunteers and Staff Participate in Legislative Days; Blog: Managed Care Pharmacy is Part of the Solution
Press Release: According to a newly released survey from AMCP, nearly 63 percent of Medicare beneficiaries say they would recommend MTM services provided under the Part D prescription drug program to friends and relatives.
AMCP shares concern about the rising costs of medications and the impact on patients, payers, and providers. In 2017, AMCP identified three key areas where AMCP members help to improve health outcomes and lower costs. These areas focus on enhancing value for outcomes; enhanced approaches to medication coverage determinations; and market competition for generics and biosimilars to lower costs.
AMCP expresses our strong support for H.R. 965, the Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples (CREATES) Act, bipartisan legislation to increase competition and patient access to safe and affordable generic and biosimilar medicines. AMCP is pleased with the reintroduction of the legislation into the 116th Congress on February 5, 2019.
AMCP shares the committee’s concerns about the unsustainable burden of high drug pricing on patients and providers and has been working with stakeholders to educate Congress on ways that AMCP pharmacists, physicians, and nurses can improve health outcomes while lowering costs.