How does /r/pharmacy feel about the Affordable Care Act and the potential impacts it will have on the profession?

I did a subreddit search and did not find any discussions about this.

As difficult as it might seem let's try to keep political and ethical viewpoints out of it. If you want to debate whether or not health care is a right there are posts in other subreddits for that.

That being said, I am very interested to hear what impacts you (practicing pharmacists, pharmacy students, patients) think the Affordable Care Act will have on the profession. I have heard plenty of physicians express their disapproval but I feel like pharmacists (the ones I know) have stayed pretty tight lipped about it.

Interesting points of discussion might include changes to the pharmacist's role in patient care, compensation, drug prices, demand for jobs, Pharm.D education, or anything else you find relevant.

I am a pharmacy student and will admit that I don't know all of the components of the program. My impression from what I have heard/read thus far has been a negative one. Here's a few things that come to mind.

A.) Greater generic availability - sounds great on the surface. Cheaper drugs available to more people, hopefully increasing health across the board. On the flip side, we all know the front-end costs that drug companies incur on bringing a new drug to market and the research dollars that went into developing that drug and dozens of other drugs that won't ever see the market. I feel like cheaper prices and/or shorter patents will lower the reward for innovation that drug companies receive and in the long run it could decrease the quality and quantity of new drugs that they pump out.

B.) Changes in reimbursement - still not clear on all dynamics of this. If I had to take a stab in the dark I would say 3rd party reimbursement pay in both community and clinical settings will decrease. If this happens I think those changes will be reflected in RPh salary. Possibly through mandatory mail order? I don't know, just brainstorming.

C.) Pay by performance measures - will pharmacist pay be based on how many times their patients skip a dose or refill medications? Not likely, but I do think it is possible for aspects of the physician compensation model to trickle into pharmacy, especially in clinical settings.

D.) Greater role in patient care - this is the only positive outcome that has come to my mind. If pharmacy is given a greater scope of practice it could increase jobs by creating new roles for the Pharm.D to fill.

That's all I have for now. So now I want to hear - what do you think?

Please correct me if I have posted any wrong information.