APhA Executive Vice President and CEO, Thomas E. Menighan, BSPharm, MBA, ScD (Hon), FAPhA, stated, “APhA supports the new initiative announced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to improve the medication therapy management (MTM) benefit for patients in stand-alone Medicare Part D plans. We applaud CMS for continuing to recognize the value of MTM to patients and to the Medicare program and for seeking ways to improve its overall impact. It is clear through the establishment of this initiative that CMS understands the benefits of MTM including optimizing medication use, improving public health, and reducing health care costs. The research shows that medication-related problems are a significant issue for many Americans, particularly seniors who use multiple prescriptions for health conditions.

“APhA and its members have been vocal and long-term advocates for improving medication use and their impact on patients. Finding creative solutions to make Medicare Part D MTM more robust and more effective has been one of APhA's core goals in recent years. CMS's announcement promotes many of the strategies APhA has long advocated for, including better integrating MTM into patients’ overall health care. CMS’ initiative also aligns with the movement to value-based health care design.  

APhA looks forward to working with CMS to improve the Part D MTM benefit and engaging our members in this initiative.”