The Dept. of Public Health and Human Services issued a Notice of Public Hearing on proposed amendments to ARM 37.85.105, updating effective dates of Medicaid fee schedules; see the relevant section related to outpatient drugs located on pages 1888-9. The public hearing will be held on January 13 and comments are due January 22.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
Gov. John Peter “Pete” Ricketts (R) signed Executive Order 21-18, facilitating hospital planning, and ensuring additional healthcare workforce capacity, on December 20, 2021. This extends the current Executive Order 21-15, allowing “pharmacists to have any number of pharmacist interns and pharmacy technicians under their supervision insofar as they determine it necessary within their professional discretion when administering vaccinations”, until March 31, 2022.
Also in Nebraska, the 471-000-540 Nebraska Medicaid Practitioner Fee Schedule for Injectables was updated effective January 1.
Also in Nebraska, the Dept. of Health and Human Services issued a Health Alert Network Update: Omicron Predominant in Nebraska and Therapeutics Updates that includes an update on the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in Nebraska, NIH’s criteria for identifying and prioritizing those expected to benefit the most from receiving the limited supply of COVID-19 therapeutics currently available and the NIH’s treatment algorithm.
Also in Nebraska, the Board of Pharmacy will meet on January 10 and have posted the meeting agenda. Also, the November 8, 2021, meeting minutes are available.
Finally in Nebraska, the Dept. of Health and Human Services has posted the DUR (Drug Utilization Review) Board January 11, 2022, meeting agenda and DUR Policy Statements (as of July 2021).
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
On New Year’s Eve NYS Governor Kathy Hochul (D) signed into law two pieces of legislation supported by NACDS. The first S3556 strengthens state anti-mandatory mail order (ammo) law. Legislators, concerned that the AMMO law was not operating as intended, passed S3566 to ensure that patients can get their prescriptions at their local pharmacy rather than be directed to mail order by their PBM. In addition, Governor Hochul signed into law S.3762 which provides for licensure and registration of pharmacy benefit managers. The bill also sets forth duties and obligations that PBMs must follow when performing services and allows the department of financial services to enforce the law and receive complaints from consumers, pharmacies, and healthcare providers. Unfortunately, Governor Hochul did veto S6603 which would have provided Medicaid pharmacy payment parity citing the fiscal note as her reasoning.
Also in New York: The State Education Department published its Notice of Adoption of their regulation related to Licensure Examination, Licensure by Endorsement, and Continuing Education Requirements in the Profession of Pharmacy The regulation is effective January 1, 2022 and eliminates the Part III exam requirement. Also commencing with registration periods beginning on or after January 1, 2023, a new requirement for a licensee to complete as part of the 45 hours of formal continuing education at least three hours of formal continuing education acceptable to the department in compounding, among other changes.
For more information, please contact NACDS’ Ben Pearlman at 617-515-2603.
Here are the links to the latest North Carolina information on COVID vaccinations including the latest statewide standing order issued by Dr. Betsey Tilson on December 22, 2021. COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Guidance Updated December 22, 2021 and Link to Summary Update.
Dr. Tilson has also issued four updated statewide standing orders regarding the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. These changes were in light of the CDC recommending the administration of Pfizer booster doses for 12–15-year-old.
Also in North Carolina, the Board of Pharmacy published proposed administrative rules concerning pharmacy interns. These rules can be found beginning on Page 1049 (PDF Page 57) of the North Carolina Register at this link. The Board will hold a public hearing on these rules on February 8, 2022. The public hearing will be held remotely. The public can participate on Teams at https://tinyurl.com/jsuk4bjk or may call 336-604-5350, conference ID 903 191 899#. Written comments will be accepted by the Board until February 14, 2022, and should be submitted to Jay Campbell, 6015 Farrington Road, Suite 201, Chapel Hill, NC 27517; fax (919) 246-1056; email ncboprulemaking@ncbop.org.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
The Medicaid Provider e-Newsletter — December 2021 includes articles with information related to pharmacists being able to bill for smoking cessation and continuous glucose monitoring services. Also, the Medicaid Provider Call Center will be unavailable from 12:15 to 2:45 p.m. Central Time on many Fridays in 2022 for staff training; see schedule in the newsletter.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
The Department of Health has published updated Guidance for Ohio Vaccine Providers for Administering Booster Doses.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.
The Board of Pharmacy adopted the following permanent rules.
| Permanent Rule | Effective Date |
| Division 007/041/045/065 – related to USP, Labeling, Repackaging | December 16, 2021 |
| Division 010 – related to Board Administration & Policies | December 16, 2021 |
| Division 019/021 – related to Pain Management CE | January 1, 2022 |
| Division 019/139 – related to Remote Dispensing Site Pharmacy/Telepharmacy | January 1, 2022 |
| Division 041 – related to Telework | December 16, 2021 |
| Division 041 – related to TCVP (Technician Checking Validation Program) | October 1, 2022 |
| Division 041/080 – related to Pseudoephedrine/Ephedrine | January 1, 2022 |
| Division 043 – related to SPDO/DPDO/CHC | January 1, 2022 |
| Division 043 – related to SPDO (Supervising Physician Dispensing Outlet) | March 31, 2022 |
| Division 060/110 – related to PDMP Fee Increase | January 1, 2022 |
Also in Oregon, as a reminder, effective January 1, 2022, drugs containing pseudoephedrine and ephedrine may be purchase without a prescription. See item above regarding the permanent rule related to pseudoephedrine/ephedrine. For information about the use of the National Precursor Log Exchange (NPLEx) system, please refer to the Board of Pharmacy’s November 2021 newsletter.
Also in Oregon, the Board of Pharmacy issued a notice requesting fiscal impact estimates from stakeholders for temporary and permanent pharmacy closures. Note: any information provided to the Board becomes a public record.
Finally in Oregon, the Board of Pharmacy’s CE Rules Advisory Committee will meet on January 18. Details to participate in the meeting via phone conference are available in the agenda.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
The Office of Medical Assistance Programs (OMAP) has announced by bulletin that they will now reimburse pharmacies a $10 administration fee for any vaccine provided to adult Medicaid patients consistent with the Pharmacy Practice Act, retroactive to Nov. 1, 2021, in both FFS and MC. Historically OMAP has only paid for ingredient costs. Billing codes are in the bulletin. Pharmacies cannot bill for vaccines covered under the VFC program.
Also in Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) will be transitioning PDMP system vendors. This change will bring new enhancements to the PDMP that are based on feedback from PDMP users, including a single platform for pharmacists to search patients, and upload and edit data. Starting on January 10, 2022, PDMP users will need to transfer their accounts to create new login credentials and establish their SFTP credentials (if applicable) within the LogiCoy PDMP platform. Pharmacies using a third party for data submission must ensure their vendor also transfers their accounts. Transitioning accounts takes an average user less than two minutes, as registration has been streamlined to pre-populate information based on the user’s license information. The transfer account period begins on January 10. During this time all PDMP users must, by February 14:
Pharmacists (or their data submission vendor) will be able to test their data submission during this time. Please note, before February 14, PDMP users will continue to use PMP Aware to search patients and PMP Clearinghouse to upload data. On February 14, PDMP users will begin using the LogiCoy PDMP to search patients and upload data. Users who search patients through their organization’s pharmacy management system will not need to change how they search patients and will not experience any changes to their pharmacy management system’s connection to the PDMP. For more information about the PDMP, please visit: www.doh.pa.gov/pdmp. For assistance with account transfer, please contact LogiCoy technical support at 844-939-0999 or email papdmp@logicoy.com.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.
The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) includes COVID-19 at-home test kits as a Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Healthy Texas Women (HTW), Kidney Health Care (KHC), and Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) pharmacy benefit effective January 3, 2022, for fee-for-service (FFS), and no later than January 17, 2022, for managed care. An adjudicated pharmacy claim is required for reimbursement of a COVID-19 at-home test. Clients may obtain COVID-19 at-home test kits from a Medicaid-enrolled retail pharmacy with or without a prescription from a prescribing provider.
Also in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) made several appointments to the Board of Pharmacy: Ian Shaw, a Dallas attorney will serve as a new public member, and pharmacists Suzette Tijerina and Jenny Yoakum were reappointed to serve a six-year term.
Also in Texas, the Health and Human Services Commission’s Department of State Health Services is hosting weekly provider webinars on Tuesdays to share the latest COVID-19 vaccine information on ordering, administration, and reporting guidelines.
Finally in Texas, the Board of Pharmacy published two proposed rules in the Texas Register on 12/24/2021: (1) conforms to federal standards by extending the time period for pharmacists to dispense prescription drug orders for Schedule II controlled substances issued by an out-of-state practitioner to the end of the 30th day after the date the prescription is issued; and (2) determines the validity of prescriptions issued as a result of teledentistry dental services or telemedicine dental services. Comments are due to the TSBP by January 24, 2022.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.