WASHINGTON, DC – The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) congratulates President Barack Obama on his re-election to a second four-year term in the White House. APhA looks forward to working with his administration as the value proposition of pharmacists is recognized and built into the reformed health care system emerging under the Affordable Care Act.

“Over the past four years, we have established a strong relationship with President Obama and his team,” said Thomas E. Menighan, BSPharm, ScD(Hon), MBA, Executive Vice President/CEO of APhA. “The administration and the new Congress have many challenges to address in health care in 2013, and APhA will make sure that the voices of pharmacists are heard both in the halls of Congress and in the offices of the executive branch.”

Medications, the most cost-effective intervention in health care, become “miracle drugs” only when used by the right patients, in the right doses and at the right times. In study after study, quality has increased and costs declined when pharmacists were put in the right place in the health care system and intervened with the right patients at the right time.

Despite the deep divisions evident as the Affordable Care Act moved through Congress in 2009 and 2010, clear bipartisan support emerged for medication therapy management and increased roles for pharmacists on the health care team and as important elements of medical homes and accountable care organizations. The value proposition pharmacists bring to collaborative health care is something APhA will continue to emphasize with the Obama administration and new and continuing Members of Congress.