Oregon
This week, Oregon joined California and Washington in a Western States Pact to coordinate the regional reopening of the economy as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
Pennsylvania
The Department of State (DOS) published additional guidance last week related to COVID-19 pharmacy issues. The guidance clarifies that the Commonwealth does not require signatures to confirm delivery and waives provisions around emergency refills to allow 90–day refills for certain medication and 30–day refills for others. In addition to other pharmacy related matters, the guidance also notably states that pharmacists are permitted to perform end-to-end COVID-19 testing and provides instructions to pharmacies to register with the Department of Health (DOH) to do so. NACDS is expecting the DOS to issue further clarifications or waivers around this policy, due to the barriers that currently exist with DOH qualifications.
Also in Pennsylvania... This week, Pennsylvania joined Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island in a regional pact to coordinate the regional reopening of the economy as the COVID-19 pandemic reaches its apex in the region. The Pact shall include state officials, economic experts and public health officials. No timeline or details are available, but the vision is a gradual return to work in the region.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.
Rhode Island
This week, Rhode Island joined Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania in a regional pact to coordinate the regional reopening of the economy as the COVID-19 pandemic reaches its apex in the region. The Pact shall include state officials, economic experts and public health officials. No timeline or details are available, but the vision is a gradual return to work in the region.
For more information, please contact NACDS’ Ben Pearlman at 617-515-2603.
South Carolina
Gov. Henry McMaster (R) announced that renewal deadlines for several professional licenses administered through the SC Dept of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR) will be extended until September 30, 2020. This includes licenses and permits issued by the SC Board of Pharmacy and further extends the previous deadline extensions provided in the Board Order issued March 23rd.
Also in South Carolina... NACDS participated in a South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SCDHHS) webinar which updated Healthy Connections Medicaid providers on the agency’s response to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). During the webinar, SCDHHS leadership provided a brief overview of actions the agency has already taken to provide additional flexibilities to providers and Healthy Connections Medicaid members and discussed additional ongoing and planned efforts as well as addressed questions submitted by providers. A copy of the presentation can be found here.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
Virginia
Physician-Governor Ralph Northam (R) signed HB 1506, a bill that was a priority in NACDS’ Scope of Business Campaign. The new law requires the development of statewide protocols for pharmacists to use to provide a wide range of services including contraceptives, epinephrine, prenatal vitamins, dietary fluoride supplements and prescription medications when the patient’s copay or cost-sharing is less than the cost of the equivalent over-the-counter drug. It also requires the Board of Pharmacy, the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health to convene a workgroup to make recommendations on further statewide protocols allowing pharmacists to administer additional vaccines, provide tobacco cessation therapy and pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and perform simple CLIA-waived testing and tuberculosis testing, and over-the-counter drugs that require a prescription by the patient’s health insurance provider.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.
Washington
This week, Washington State joined California and Oregon in a Western States Pact to coordinate the regional reopening of the economy as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
Alabama
Alabama Medicaid has extended all expiration dates for temporary allowances to April 30, 2020. This alert and other related updates can be found at the Agency COVID-19 page here.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
Indiana
Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) issued an emergency executive order last week that included increasing the pharmacy technician ratio from 6:1 to 8:1, suspension of the direct supervision provisions to permit technicians to work remotely, and one-time 90-day refills.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.
Kentucky
The Department of Insurance announced guidance on the suspension of pharmacy audits during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Department recognized the role of pharmacists in providing essential healthcare services during the current state of emergency and the need to ease operational barriers in order to allow pharmacists to focus on providing those services. Consequently, audits of pharmacy records performed in accordance with KRS 304.17A-740 through KRS 304.17A-747 have been temporarily suspended.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.