Provider Status: What is it and What Does it Mean for Me? Presentation created by the APhA-ASP Policy Standing Committee and Chapter Policy Vice President

So…What Is Provider Status? There are 2 identical versions of legislation: HR 592 and S 109 Bill would amend section 1861(s)(2) of the Social Security Act to allow for Medicare patients to access pharmacist-provided services under Medicare Part B Basically, patients with Medicare Part B could receive pharmacist services and pharmacists could bill these patients under Medicare Part B Key point: This would only be enacted in communities considered “medically underserved” This is determined by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

…Medically Underserved? Medically underserved communities are determined by a combination of: Number of primary care providers Infant mortality rate Poverty rate Older adult population What percentage of counties in each state do you think are considered medically underserved? 15%? 25%? 90%?

Here’s a nationwide map to look at. This is an area of major need Here’s a nationwide map to look at. This is an area of major need! Most states have at least 61+% of their counties with medically underserved areas. Transition with: “Now what about our state?”

State specific info Insert your state-specific info here! Go to pharmacistsprovidecare.com and click on your state for your state-specific info. Copy the image and paste it in place of the one up here

How’s the support? One of the major features of this bill is that it has bipartisan support A major plus in today’s government HR 592 has ### co-sponsors Introduced by Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY) S 109 has ## co-sponsors Introduced by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) Go to congress.gov and search for HR 592 and SB 109 to see the current support! Enter those numbers in place of the “###” to have an up-to-date count on the cosponsors.

What do your legislators think? Senators Sen. XX YYY (D) – Co-sponsor! Representatives Rep. XX YYY (D-State-##) – Co-sponsor! Rep. Dave Trott (R-State-##) – Not a co-sponsor You can find your legislators at: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ and you can see if they are co-sponsors on the bill by looking at: congress.gov and searching by either HR 592 or SB 109 (depending on if you are looking at the House or Senate version). You can also add pictures and contact info for your legislators as you like to make it more personal. Have fun with it! What do your legislators think?

Why Should I Care? Baby Boomers are starting to become Medicare-eligible Pharmacists are uniquely placed to provide primary care and medication management services to this and other underserved populations Allows for pharmacists to practice at the top of their license and training Find some more state specific information and/or recent events to help demonstrate to your members why they should care. This is a great opportunity to connect this national piece of legislation to your community!

What Can I Do To Help? Write a letter to your legislators! If they are a co-sponsor, thank them! If they are not a co-sponsor, encourage them to be one! Make sure to put in a personal story on something you have done or seen where a pharmacist helped a patient Not sure what to say? Go to pharmacistsprovidecare.com and click on “Take Action” This will send an automatically generated e-mail to your legislators to let them know that you support HR592/S109 Sign up for updates on pharmacistsprovidecare.com to stay up to date!

Check out pharmacistsprovidecare.com for more info!