The Board of Pharmacy voted to pursue legislation in 2021-22 to make the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) temporary waiver allowing pharmacists to order and administer CLIA-waived tests for COVID and influenza permanent.

Also in California. The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) continues to make significant progress and movement toward a full assumption of operations of all pharmacy services on April 1, 2021, to Medi-Cal Rx.

• To facilitate the transition for Medi-Cal pharmacy providers, DHCS will be transferring previously established Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) account information from the existing Medi-Cal fee-for-service (FFS) Fiscal Intermediary to Medi-Cal Rx. For those pharmacy providers that do not wish to have their EFT account information transferred over to Medi-Cal Rx for use after April 1, 2021, assumption of operations, an option to “opt-out” is available. Registered users who wish to provide new or modified EFT account information to Medi-Cal Rx for use after the Medi-Cal Rx assumption of operations may do so at the following link: https://medi-calrx.dhcs.ca.gov/.
• The Medi-Cal Rx website will be fully operational by April 1, 2021. DHCS encourages Medi-Cal providers to sign up for the Medi-Cal Rx Subscription Service (MCRxSS) so that interested parties can receive Medi-Cal Rx updates.

Also in California. Pharmacies can submit batch and hard copy claims for COVID-19 vaccine administration. More information can be found about claims submission can be found here.

Also in California. In 2019, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) had temporarily suspended retroactive pharmacy claim adjustments. DHCS will resume retroactive pharmacy claim adjustments beginning in February of 2021. Refer to Frequently Asked Questions on the Medi-Cal Website for additional information.

Also in California. In response to members’ requests, NACDS submitted a joint letter with the California Retailers Association to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency urging them to remove the Vaccines-for-Children enrollment barrier so citizens can receive COVID vaccines at their local convenient community pharmacies.

Also in California. The Department of Managed Care provided notice and guidance on Covid-19 vaccine coverage and administration for the Medi-Cal managed care program. Please visit the above link for more information.

Also in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) issued an Executive Order extending liability protections for healthcare providers during state and local emergencies to healthcare providers participating in the state’s vaccine administration program.  The Order applies to both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.  More information can be found here.

Also in California. The DHCS issued guidance reminding Medi-Cal providers that they are prohibited from illegally discriminating against Medi-Cal members. Also, in the context of the COVID-19 PHE, providers are prohibited from illegally discriminating against Medi-Cal members in determining how to allocate scarce resources for the treatment of COVID-19. DHCS’ Office of Civil Rights has an established discrimination complaint process for Medi-Cal consumers to file grievances of alleged discrimination. More information is available on the DHCS website.

Lastly, in California. The DHCS held a webinar to provide an overview of the relaunch of the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative.  CalAIM builds upon prior successes in health care delivery and proposes to provide more services and supports for patients with complex needs. Key goals of CalAIM include promoting whole-person care, reducing program complexity, and modernizing systems. For more information, please visit the CalAIM webpage.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.

The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Medi-Cal is on track for April 1, 2021, to move from managed care to fee-for-service. DHCS has received approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for numerous projects, including the transition of the Medi-Cal pharmacy benefit from managed care to fee-for-service. For more information about Medi-Cal Rx, please visit DHCS’ dedicated Medi-Cal Rx Transition website: Medi-Cal Rx: Transition

Also in California. DHCS submitted a State Plan Amendment (SPA) 20-0046 to CMS, which seeks to set reimbursement for COVID-19 testing administered to Medi-Cal students in schools at 70 percent of the Medicare reimbursement rates. The effective date of this SPA is February 1, 2021.

Also in California. The California Department of Public Health released new guidance on vaccine prioritization on January 7. The guidance recognizes the need to balance the prioritization of scarce vaccine resources to achieve community immunity for all Californians by noting situations in which the health departments and providers may offer doses promptly to people in lower priority groups, including provider flexibility to eliminate vaccine spoilage.

Also in California. The Board of Pharmacy reminded pharmacies that they must register their mobile vaccination clinics/hubs where their pharmacist and pharmacy technicians are providing vaccinations outside the pharmacy. All that is required is the pharmacy name and license, and records related to vaccinations should be kept at the pharmacy to be made available if needed for an inspection. Chain companies can provide one list of all their licensed pharmacies in California where there is a mobile COVID vaccine clinic or COVID vaccine administration outside the pharmacy. For more information contact Amber Dillon at Amber.Dillon@dca.ca.gov.

Also in California. The Board of Pharmacy provided guidance on new compliant security prescription forms for instances where a prescriber may not have utilized a compliant security prescription form for a controlled substance on and after January 1, 2021, as required by Assembly Bill 149 (Statutes of 2019). For additional information, go to the Joint Statement and FAQs from the California Department of Justice, the California State Board of Pharmacy, and the Medical Board of California.

Also in California. On January 7, the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the Pharmaceutical and Sharps Waste Stewardship Program Regulations, which are effective immediately.

Also in California. The Administration’s Medi-Cal reform initiative that got delayed last year due to COVID was revised and released last week. The CalAIM executive summary is attached and here is a link to the website.

Lastly in California. In case you missed it, before the holidays, the California Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) issued an order waiving restrictions on pharmacy technicians related to administering COVID-19 vaccinations with specific conditions: DCA Waiver DCA-20-103 Order Waiving Restrictions on Pharmacy Technicians Relating to Administering COVID-19 Vaccines.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.