The Board of Pharmacy issued information regarding physician assistants (PA) prescribing Schedule II controlled substances prescriptions. For more information, contact pharmacy@pharmacy.ok.gov.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
The Board of Pharmacy issued a notice requesting stakeholder fiscal impact information related to proposed requirements for “Proper Storage of Drugs”, “Remote Dispensing Site Pharmacies” and “Telework”. Note: The board reminds pharmacies that some information they may want to provide may be proprietary, and any information provided to the Board of Pharmacy becomes a public record. By October 6, please provide comments to pharmacy.rulemaking@bop.oregon.gov.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
Gov. Wolf (D) has signed a bill that extends COVID-19 related pharmacy waivers due to expire on September 30 until March 31, 2022. It does not extend the waivers that were already terminated by the Department of State prior to September 30th. Since this was a blanket extension of the current waivers, the bill did not go further than the state waivers to fill in the gaps to match the PREP Act allowances. We will continue advocating for the passage of bills that match the PREP Act.
Also in Pennsylvania, NACDS reminds members that beginning October 1, the state will cover copays for Naloxone prescriptions for patients hesitant to pick up the prescription due to cost, regardless of the type of insurance coverage. Please refer to the submission specifications and program bulletin for more information.
Also in Pennsylvania, the Board of Pharmacy has published proposed regulations providing for pharmacy technician registration based on Act 140 of 2020. Keeping in mind that any substantive changes will require legislation, please send any comments you may have to Jill McCormack by October 11.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.
NACDS provided comments encouraging the Board of Pharmacy (TSBP) to include in their FY 2023-2027 strategic plan statute and rule changes to permanently codify the scope of practice expansion authorized under the PREP Act for all pharmacy personnel, and to further modernize scope of practice for Texas pharmacists to allow for practices now authorized in other states. We also urged the Board to modernize their in-person counseling rules to permanently allow the option of telephonic counseling that has allowed pharmacies to deploy innovative workflow models to meet increased patient demand for pharmacy services.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
The Health Care Authority’s (HCA) Apple Health (Medicaid) announced that they are implementing changes to the State Maximum Allowable Costs (SMAC) list for the fee-for-service (FFS) Prescription Drug Program on November 1, 2021.
Also in Washington, HCA is publishing quarterly updates to billing guides starting on October 1, 2021.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) and Pharmacy Society of Wisconsin (PSW) currently are engaged in logistical planning for how assisted living facilities (ALF) will access COVID-19 booster doses.
DHS and PSW are asking pharmacy partners to please fill out a short survey to guide Wisconsin’s strategy around booster dose planning for this critical population. Fill out the survey here.
For more information, please contact NACDS’ Ben Pearlman at 617-515-2603.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Alabama Medicaid Agency (Medicaid) temporarily ceased revalidation for providers. Medicaid has now resumed revalidation for providers. Affected providers may contact the Gainwell Provider Enrollment Unit at 1-888-223-3630 and speak to a Provider Enrollment Specialist. To learn more about the revalidation process please visit www.medicaid.alabama.gov, select the ‘Providers’ tab, then click on ‘Provider Enrollment‘ to view details. If a provider does not revalidate their enrollment, it will result in the provider enrollment being closed which can cause patients to not receive medications.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
As a result of federal funding available to the Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (CBPL) to offset certain administrative costs of running the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), the Division is recommending decreasing the PDMP fee to zero. Written comments must be received not later than 4:30 p.m. on October 22, 2021, NACDS will not be commenting on this issue. Comments must be addressed to CBPL Regulations Specialist, PO Box 110806, Juneau, AK 99811 or regulationsandpubliccomment@alaska.gov.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
NACDS submitted comments to the Board of Pharmacy stating support for the proposed rules allowing pharmacists to delegate additional nondiscretionary tasks to pharmacy technicians, including the technical act of administering vaccines and performing other tasks that a pharmacy technician is trained to perform.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.