Alaska
The Board of Pharmacy met on February 17 and 18.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Arizona
The Board of Pharmacy Task Force Committee-Rules Writing meeting will be held on February 22 at 9:00 a.m. An agenda has not been posted on the website.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
California
The Department of Health Care Services posted the following alerts and weekly notices on the Medi-Cal Rx Web Portal. Please note the reinstatement resources and information below.
- Evusheld® No Longer Authorized to Prevent COVID-19 (February 14)
- NCPDP Reject Code 83 – Duplicate Paid/Captured Claim (February 14)
- Reminder: Establishing Medical Necessity (February 14)
- Mpox Treatment Drug, Tecovirimat (TPOXX® or ST-246), as a Medi-Cal Pharmacy Benefit (February 13)
- Boostrix™ Claims System Issue (February 13)
- Medi-Cal Rx Weekly Wrap-up for February 3-9 (February 10)
- Reinstatement Spotlight (February 10)
Also in California, Medi-Cal posted the following:
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
Colorado
The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing will be communicating to providers on rolling back certain flexibilities that will expire when the public health emergency.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Indiana
The Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA) posted several bulletins of interest to pharmacies.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Iowa
The Board of Pharmacy announced the following effective March 15:
- ARC 6843C has been adopted and amends Chapter 10, “Controlled Substances” placing one substance into Schedule I of the Iowa Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in alignment with .
- ARC 6844C has been adopted and amends Chapter 37, “Iowa Prescription Monitoring Program” establishing council membership information for the PMP Advisory Council and clarifying that only overdoes-reversal opioid antagonists are required to be submitted to the PMP.
Also in Iowa, the Board of Pharmacy issued a “Notice of Intended Action” related to ARC 6874C amending Chapter 10, “Controlled Substances,” and Chapter 12, “Precursor Substances.” This proposed rulemaking temporarily adds four substances to Schedule I, excludes one substance from Schedule II and adds one substance as a precursor substance to the Iowa CSA in alignment with response to similar action taken by the DEA ARC 6874C amending Chapter 10, “Controlled Substances,” and Chapter 12, “Precursor Substances.” This proposed rulemaking temporarily adds four substances to Schedule I, excludes one substance from Schedule II and adds one substance as a precursor substance to the Iowa CSA in alignment with DEA’s action. Comments may be submitted until 4:30 p.m. on February 28.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
Louisiana
The Department of Health (LDH) announced that they now plan to migrate Medicaid to a single payor system on October 1. All patients will be assigned to a managed care organization and will receive a new universal prescription benefit card.
Also in Louisiana, the Board of Pharmacy met on February 15 & 16.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Massachusetts
MassHealth, the state Medicaid agency, is asking pharmacies to post this flier for notice to recipients of the planned redetermination of all MassHealth beneficiaries that will begin on April 1. One half million Massachusetts residents were added to MassHealth under the PREP Act and individuals may lose their MassHealth coverage and be moved to other state sponsored or commercial health plans.
For more information, please contact NACDS’ Ben Pearlman at 617-515-2603.
Missouri
The revised 2023 Pharmacy Practice Guide is available on the Board’s website. It contains updated compliance tips and information on recent statutory/rule changes, including:
- Pharmacy Working Conditions
- Technician Supervision & Expanded Technician Activities
- Electronic Final Product Verification (Pharmacists)
- Technology-Assisted Product Verification (Interns & Technicians), &
- Quality Assurance
Also in Missouri, the Department of Health and Senior Services recently issued a revised naloxone standing order.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.