Healthcare Reform

HDMA’s Position:
For more than 125 years, HDMA has worked with its members to support a safe, efficient and reliable healthcare distribution system that delivers life-saving health products and services. HDMA believes it is critically important that all Americans have access to high-quality, safe and affordable healthcare. HDMA is dedicated to working with the Administration, Congress and other stakeholders to help transform healthcare for the benefit of patients. HDMA believes that in order for meaningful healthcare reform to occur, the following principles must be incorporated:

• Expand Access to Healthcare Coverage – HDMA supports expanding access to high-quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans. Solutions considered to attain this goal should be patient-centered, with particular emphasis on addressing portability and sustainability. The basic market principles of personal choice and free-market competition, along with appropriate regulatory oversight and support for existing public programs, are critical to helping modernize the healthcare system to meet the future challenges of providing high-quality affordable healthcare for all Americans.
• Promote Innovation and New Technologies – HDMA supports the use of new technologies and medical innovation to increase efficiencies, improve quality and reduce cost. Needed and appropriate investments in prevention and wellness programs, health IT, electronic health records, e-prescribing and interoperability will improve quality of care, reduce costs, decrease or eliminate medical errors and enhance information about the use of pharmaceuticals.
• Invest in Improving Quality, Efficiency and Patient Safety – Although medicines account for only a small percentage of overall healthcare costs, they continue to play an essential role in improving public health. Patients should have access to these lifesaving treatments without having to worry about their integrity or authenticity. Recognizing the value of a robust and secure medication delivery infrastructure that utilizes best practices to achieve efficiency, safety and quality is integral to promoting a safe and reliable healthcare distribution system.

Issue:
Today, nearly 46 million people in the United States lack basic healthcare coverage. They are often unable to access life-saving medications and therapies due to a healthcare system subject to increasingly complex challenges. Policymakers are considering ways to improve the quality, safety and sustainability of the nation’s healthcare system while increasing coverage to millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans.

Additional Information:
HDMA members remain committed to ensuring the safety and integrity of the healthcare supply chain and providing innovative solutions that improve quality and efficiency. HDMA believes that only through a collaborative effort, with all stakeholders engaged, will we realize our shared responsibility to bring positive, lasting change to the healthcare system.

About HDMA
HDMA is the national association representing primary healthcare distributors, the vital link in the healthcare system. Each business day, HDMA member companies ensure that more than nine million prescription medicines and healthcare products are safely delivered to more than 165,000 pharmacies, hospitals, nursing homes, physician offices, clinics and others nationwide. HDMA and its members work daily to provide value and contain costs, saving the nation's healthcare system an estimated $32 billion per year.