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PORTLAND, Maine

Advocacy by UNE pharmacy student and faculty member to be featured in 'PharmacyToday'

Advocacy efforts for pharmacist provider status by Kenneth McCall, UNE associate professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice, and UNE pharmacy student Nicole Chasse ’15 will be featured in the September issue of PharmacyToday.  

The legislative initiative would amend Title XVIII of the Social Security Act to include pharmacists as providers. It would enable patients to use Medicare to pay for pharmacy services. Currently, there are nearly 100 co-sponsors of the bill, which has bipartisan support in the U.S. House of Representatives.

McCall and Chasse were part of a delegation from the Maine Pharmacy Association that met with Maine representatives Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud to advocate for their support of the legislation. Chasse and a pharmacy student from Husson University expressed the important role pharmacists play as members of the health care team in helping ensure patients use medications safely. Both Maine representatives are expected to announce whether they will support the bill after Labor Day.

The September issue of PharmacyToday will be available online at pharmacist.com after September 1, and in mailboxes by mid-September.  

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.