The Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF) announced during this week’s quarterly pharmacy forum that they have applied for a waiver with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to allow them to pay pharmacies for immunizations administered to Fee-For-Service beneficiaries. DHCF expects CMS to take action on the waiver in Jan. 2020. NACDS will keep members updated as the process continues.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.
HB 389, Testing for and Treatment of Influenza and Streptococcus, was heard on November 13 in the House Health Quality Subcommittee. The bill passed favorably with a vote of 11-3, next stop is the House Health Care Appropriations Committee.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
SB 2104, that includes language to extend the Pharmacy Practice Act until Sunday, January 1, 2023, is headed to the desk of Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D). The bill contains many of the recommendations from the Collaborative Pharmaceutical Task Force.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Joel Kurzman at 847-905-0555.
The Iowa Medicaid Enterprise has added a new provider type to allow pharmacists to enroll as Medicaid providers. Pursuant to statewide protocols, this will allow pharmacists to order and dispense naloxone and nicotine replacement therapy tobacco cessation products, as well as to order and administer vaccines to Medicaid members. For details, please see the Informational Letter No. 2048-MC-FFS dated November 18.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Joel Kurzman at 847-905-0555.
The Department of Health Bureau of Health Services and Financing issued a Medicaid provider notice that effective December 15, the Fee-for-Service Pharmacy program and Managed Care organizations will implement a new POS diagnosis code requirement and quantity limits for certain nasal sprays.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
In November, the Mississippi Division of Medicaid (DOM) introduced a new Provider Satisfaction Survey, which is a brief, electronic survey distributed to the provider community on a quarterly basis. If members haven’t yet had a chance to fill it out, the survey will remain open for another 30 days. Each survey will cover a different topic, and we will share the results once each survey is closed and the answers are compiled. For the first survey, the Department wants to hear what topics/challenges are of most interest to providers. Mississippi Division of Medicaid Provider Satisfaction Survey. The survey will remain open through the end of December.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
The MO HealthNet Pharmacy Help Desk (800-392-8030) has new phone menu sub-options effective November 21, including for early refill or opioid requests and rejections. For additional information, providers can email the Help Desk.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Joel Kurzman at 847-905-0555.
Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) appointed three new members to the seven-member Board of Pharmacy – public member Richard Tomasso, hospital pharmacist Krystal Freitas, and pharmacist Helen Parks who will serve as president. There is still one vacant pharmacist seat.
Also in Nevada… NACDS submitted comments supporting a proposed rule allowing pharmacists to delegate access to run the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) reports to delegates including intern pharmacists, pharmaceutical technicians or pharmaceutical technicians in training. This rulemaking serves to eliminate some the administrative barriers that pharmacists encounter when running PDMP reports.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
In an effort to get Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s (D) Administration to include reimbursement to pharmacists for clinical services in the 2020 one-month fiscal session, NACDS provided our in-state partner, the New Mexico Pharmacists Association, with recommendations for an upcoming meeting with David R. Scrase, MD, the Secretary of the Human Services Department.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.