National Speaker to Address Medicare Reform at WSU Spokane

SPOKANE, Wash. — Susan Winckler, staff counsel of the American Pharmacists Association, will present “The Medicare Drug Benefit: Threat or Opportunity – or Both” at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 18 as guest lecturer for this year’s Allen I. White Lectureship, presented by the Washington State University College of Pharmacy at WSU Spokane.

Scheduled in the Phase I Classroom Building Auditorium, 668 N. Riverpoint Blvd., on the Riverpoint campus, the lecture is free and open to the public. To ensure seating, attendees need to contact Joyce Harbison, (509) 358-7667 or harbison@wsu.edu. Pharmacy continuing education credit is available for the lecture, and a reception in the building’s gallery will precede the lecture at 5:30 p.m. For details see www.events.spokane.wsu.edu.

A registered pharmacist and attorney, Winckler will review the pharmacy-relevant portions of the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 and proposed regulations, identify the threats and opportunities the act presents for pharmacists, and discuss implementation and ongoing issues with the Medicare-approved prescription drug discount card.

The American Pharmacists Association is the first and largest national professional society of pharmacists.  In her capacity as vice president and staff counsel, Winckler is responsible for coordinating the association’s legislative, regulatory and private sector advocacy agenda and communication programs.  She serves as the primary spokesperson for the association for media interviews and is the senior lobbyist for the association on Capitol Hill.  In more than 11 years with APhA, she has served the profession in various capacities, including group director of policy and advocacy and director of practice affairs, with responsibility for managing issues affecting pharmacist practitioners in all practice settings.

Prior to joining APhA, Winckler directed the implementation of the Iowa Medicaid Drug Prior Authorization Program for the Unisys Company and worked for the Iowa Pharmacists Association (now the Iowa Pharmacy Association) and a community pharmacy in Iowa.  She is a graduate of the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy and the Georgetown University Law Center, magna cum laude. She is a licensed pharmacist and was admitted to the bar in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  In June 2003, Winckler received the distinguished young alumni award from the U of I Alumni Association, an award granted to graduates for significant accomplishments in business or professional life.

The Allen I. White Lecture was established by College of Pharmacy professors Charles Martin and Vishnu Bhatia as a tribute to college dean Allen I. White upon his retirement in 1979 and has been supported by significant gifts from a number of donors, including Allen and Edith White. As dean, White felt it was important to give pharmacy students greater exposure to health-care training and issues. This was the rationale behind both the clinical training program in Spokane and the Allen I. White Lectureship, which brings experts in health care to WSU to discuss health-care topics with faculty and students. The first eight WSU pharmacy students who came to Spokane for clinical training in the spring of 1970 were brought to the city under his leadership.

Note to editors: Depending on travel schedules, Winckler may be available for advance interviews. Contact Tenikka Greene at the American Pharmacists Association, TGreene@APhAnet.org or (202) 429-7537, for advance interviews. For interviews Monday. Oct. 18, contact Joyce Harbison, (509) 358-7667, harbison@wsu.edu.