New Hampshire

This week the New Hampshire State Senate unanimously passed SB (Senate Bill) 229, which will allow a certified pharmacy technician to administer both flu and covid vaccines. The New Hampshire Chain Pharmacy Association testified in support of passage of SB 229. The bill will now move to the House, and it is anticipated that the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee will hold a hearing during the latter half of March or in April.

For more information, please contact NACDS’ Ben Pearlman at 617-515-2603.

2022-02-18T09:41:42-05:00February 18, 2022|New Hampshire|

Rhode Island

The Department of Health has filed an Emergency Amendment, effective February 10, 2022 requiring immunization against COVID-19 for all workers in a licensed health care facility and other practicing health care providers.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

2022-02-18T09:33:53-05:00February 18, 2022|Rhode Island|

South Carolina

Senate Bill S150 the SC Compassionate Care Act, sponsored by Senator Tom Davis (R), which would legalize medical cannabis for certain conditions, passed the Senate this week. The cannabis must be dispensed at a therapeutic cannabis pharmacy, which would be overseen by DHEC and the Board of Pharmacy and would have a licensed PIC. Therapeutic cannabis pharmacies must be separate and distinct from a traditional pharmacy.  

Also in South Carolina, The SC Pharmacy Association’s (SCPhA) held their February Board of Director’s meeting and SCPhA House of Delegates at the SCPhA offices. They accepted nominations for both leadership positions and awards for SCPhA2022. The following Board of Director positions are open for nominations: President-Elect, Treasurer, Member-at-Large, Low Country Region Director, Midland Region Director, and speaker-elect. The House is looking to fill 3 Low Country delegate positions and 4 Midlands delegate positions. The nominations from the House floor have already occurred. However, if you are interested in nominating yourself or another individual for one of the open leadership positions, you will need to get 15 (for Board of Directors) or 5 (for delegates) signatures from active members no later than February 21, 2022. For more information and to access the signature form, please click here. 

To nominate a person for an Award, please review the nomination criteria by clicking here. You must complete the application and return to SCPhA by March 15, 2022, via email to info@scrx.org. Self-nominations are allowed. Please note that nominations will not be accepted unless supportive statements are provided. Best of luck to anyone hoping to receive one of these prestigious awards.  

Finally in South Carolina, Integrating Pharmacists into Primary Care (IPPC): SCPhA Certificate Training Program will be held on April 3, 2022, 8 AM – 12 PM. This certificate training program is designed to help prepare pharmacists to collaborate with medical practices. The curriculum is a combination of clinical and business concepts essential to providing high-quality sustainable services as part of an interdisciplinary team. More information and registration can be found here. 

SCPhA is also offering Naloxone training for pharmacists. More information and registration can be found here.  

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

2022-02-18T09:33:10-05:00February 18, 2022|South Carolina|

Tennessee

The Department of Health held a COVID-19 Provider online seminar on February 11, 2022 and discussed availability of certain therapeutics in the state. A recording and slides from the online seminar have been posted online.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.

2022-02-18T09:30:44-05:00February 18, 2022|Tennessee|

Vermont

On January 1, 2022, the Medicaid pharmacy administration fee for vaccines changed from $13.97 to $13.87. This is to align with changes to the physician fee schedule and does not apply to COVID-19 administration fees. There is further guidance around POS submission, administration fees added to adult ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) recommended vaccines, and enrollment in the Vermont Child Vaccine Program (VCVP). 

Also in Vermont, the Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) contracts with Change Healthcare to support Vermont’s publicly funded pharmacy benefit programs. The Change Healthcare help desk supports all pharmacies and prescribers enrolled in Vermont’s pharmacy benefit programs. It is the first point of contact for pharmacy and medical providers for drug prior authorization requests, drug claims processing issues, and other drug-related questions, concerns, and complaints.  

Change Healthcare is conducting a provider satisfaction survey of pharmacies and prescribers and your participation in this survey is particularly important to DVHA as responses from this survey will be used for quality improvement efforts. The entire survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete. Comments are dure by March 15.  

For more information, please contact NACDS’ Ben Pearlman at 617-515-2603.

2022-02-18T09:29:58-05:00February 18, 2022|Vermont|

California

The following alerts have been posted to the Medi-Cal Rx Web Portal:  

Also in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) recently appointed two new public members to the Board of Pharmacy filling the remaining public member vacancies. Kula Koenig, of Sacramento, has been Senior Director of Impact at the United Way California Capital Region since 2018. Indira J. Cameron-Banks, of Los Angeles, has been a Sole Practitioner at Cameron Banks Law since 2021.  

Also in California, the Board of Pharmacy announced the first meeting of the Standard of Care Ad Hoc Committee being convened consistent with the requirements of AB (Assembly Bill) 1533 (Chapter 629). 

Also in California, the Board of Pharmacy distributed its February 2022 Update.  

Also in California, the Board of Pharmacy announced a schedule for the listening sessions to hear from California pharmacy technicians. Note: space is limited, and registration is required. The Board is also taking comments via a brief survey.  

Finally in California, the Department of Justice issued a notice to all CURES data submitters as a reminder of the transition from Atlantic Associates Inc. to Bamboo Health, the new contractor for prescription data collection services for CURES. Note: dispensers will continue to send data to Atlantic Associate through February 22. Effective February 23, dispensers will be required to report data to CURES via Bamboo Health’s PMP Clearinghouse.  

For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.

2022-02-11T12:00:51-05:00February 11, 2022|California|

Colorado

State Senate President Leroy Garcia (D) announced that he has accepted a position with the Biden Administration and will be resigning in mid-February. Senate Democrats selected Sen. Steve Fenberg to be the chamber’s next president.

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

2022-02-11T11:59:16-05:00February 11, 2022|Colorado|

District of Columbia

NACDS received an email from Pharmacy Services stating that “effective January 15, 2022, the Department of Health Care Finance (DHCF) is covering FDA-approved COVID-19 Home test kit(s) dispensed by pharmacies enrolled with DC Medicaid. Pharmacies must submit claims through the Fee-for-Service (FFS) Medicaid Pharmacy Benefit Manager to receive reimbursement from DHCF for HSCSN enrollee(s). HSCSN enrollees are eligible for test kits through the DC Medicaid Fee-For-Service program with no co-payment. Feel free to contact the DHCF Division of Clinician, Pharmacy, and Acute Provider Services:  

Charlene Fairfax, Senior Pharmacist at (202) 442-9076, charlene.fairfax@dc.gov 

Gidey Amare, Pharmacist at (202) 442-5952, gidey.amare@dc.gov 

Jonas Terry, Pharmacist at (202) 478-1415, jonas.terry@dc.gov 

Magellan (Pharmacy Benefit Manager) at 1-800-273-4962″ 

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.

2022-02-11T11:58:34-05:00February 11, 2022|District of Columbia|

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