In an episode of those classic Little Rascals film comedies of the 1930s, the Our Gang kids are lost and seem to be walking around aimlessly. When one asks the group where they’re headed another answers, “I don’t know, but we’re on our way.”
Whether you were for or against the Affordable Care Act, that response seemed to be the universal reaction when the Supreme Court voted in June to uphold the new law that changes the face of healthcare in the United States. The Court’s decision had been public for mere minutes before people from every precinct of the healthcare industry ventured an opinion on what the ACA would mean to pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, health insurance companies, states that finance Medicaid, physicians, and, of course, the American people, especially those who lack health insurance. And for every person who was confident in their views about what the impact of the new law would be, there was another who seemed to say “I don’t know, but we’re on our way” when it came to expressing their thoughts about the ACA.
One of the qualities that we feel sets PM360 apart from other publications in the field is our wealth of knowledgeable advisors, columnists, and contributors, who can speak and write authoritatively about the major issues affecting the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, especially as it relates to pharma marketing. So as soon as the ACA was affirmed by the Court, we asked our “experts” to chime in—without political prejudice, if possible—on what they felt the consequences of the ACA would be on pharma and the country. In our six-page special section that begins on page 24, a dynamic dozen experts offer their insightful views on whether the new healthcare law will ultimately be the right prescription for pharma and America—now and in the future (we also offer a Guest Commentary on page 8 on how the ACA will impact pharma marketers). We welcome your thoughts on the issue, and you can send them to: editorial@PM360online.com.
In the meantime, please don’t forget to order your tickets to our exciting 2012 PM360 “Trailblazer Awards Gala” on September 21 in NYC. You can order your tickets at www.pm360trailblazerawards.com/tickets. Who knows? You might even meet one of our experts at the party!