On April 18, Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) convened the second meeting of his Opioid State Action Accountability Task Force. Numerous stakeholders, including the Board of Pharmacy, provided status reports on prescriber education and guidelines, treatment options and third-party payers, data collection and sharing and criminal justice investigations.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
In advance of the April 19 Board of Pharmacy meeting, NACDS provided comments on proposed rules pointing out the inconsistencies on partial fill versus federal partial fill laws and rules and on proposed rules updating the timeframe for submitting corrections to dispensing information previously provided to the prescription monitoring program.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
The Board of Pharmacy issued clarifications to licensed pharmacists on how to handle Schedule II controlled substances prescriptions when the entire quantity is not covered by insurance and the Drug Abuse Treatment Act-Waived Physicians.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
The Health and Human Services Commission’s Vendor Drug Program (VDP) announced that effective Tuesday, May 15, the status of the antipsychotic clinical prior authorization will be optional. For more information, go to the VDP website’s Pharmacy Clinical Prior Authorization Assistance Chart.
Also in Texas…Effective Monday, April 30, the Vendor Drug Program (VDP) will no longer allow pharmacies to submit a code to override the prescriber enrollment denial in emergencies when the prescribing provider is not enrolled. Beginning Friday, April 30 and continuing until Friday, July 27, pharmacies should contact the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) Pharmacy Benefits Access Help Desk at 1-800-435-4165 to obtain a manual override of the prescriber enrollment denial. The Help Desk will only override a denial one time per person per prescriber.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
The state’s Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) adopted rules effective May 1 for individuals or organizations to take back and dispose medications. For more information, please contact Gabriel Neibergall, an IEPA attorney, at 217-782-5544.
Also in Illinois…The Department of Public Health (IDPH) launched its Opioid Data Dashboard, a website offering information about how opioids are affecting people in Illinois, including rates of opioid prescriptions by county. Additional information about efforts to curb abuse and misuse is available in the State of Illinois Opioid Action Plan.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Joel Kurzman at 847-905-0555.
HB 200, the state budget bill, was enacted on April 13 after the legislature overrode Gov. Matt Bevin’s (R) veto. The final budget includes language increasing Medicaid managed care dispensing fees by $12 million in 2018-2019.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.
Following up previous reporting about the Department of Health and Human Services’ (MDHHS) delay of implementing the requirement that all providers serving Medicaid beneficiaries be screened and enrolled in the Michigan Medicaid program, MDDHS announced it is still reassessing new implementation and enforcement dates.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Joel Kurzman at 847-905-0555.
NACDS testified before the Board of Pharmacy on amendments to proposed continuous quality improvement regulations. In response to testimony and comments from the public, the Board agreed to table the proposal and hold another public hearing.
For more information, please contact NACDS’ Ben Pearlman at 617-515-2603.
Last week, NACDS joined over 700 pharmacists and pharmacy interns in meetings with state legislators to urge passage of several key pieces of legislation including allowing pharmacy interns to immunize, allow comprehensive medication management in the community pharmacy setting and recognition of pharmacy technicians in statute and regulation.
For more information, please contact NACDS’ Ben Pearlman at 617-515-2603.