Tennessee

Please see the Provider Notice, which includes updates to the TennCare Preferred Drug List, Clinical Criteria, and Interim Criteria below for November 2021. These changes go into effect on November 1. 

  • BaG removals: Clindesse 
  • Added to non-preferred: Suboxone, Clindesse 
  • Added to preferred: buprenorphine-naloxone film (BESMART only), cinacalcet 
  • Modified criteria/quantity limits for Emflaza, Xeljanz, Xeljanz solution, Xeljanz XR, Olumiant, Rinvoq 

 

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

2021-11-05T10:30:43-04:00November 5, 2021|Tennessee|

Texas

Having received numerous written comments from Texas pharmacists in advance of the November 2 meeting and hearing from more than a dozen pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and stakeholder groups, the Board voted to withdraw the proposed rules on non-sterile compounding and send back to staff for recommendations on how to proceed.

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

2021-11-05T10:29:45-04:00November 5, 2021|Texas|

Virginia

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has issued an amended standing order for COVID vaccines that includes 5 to 11-year-old patients. Additionally, they have developed a flowchart to help with decision making on booster shot dose amount. Lastly, they announced that ordering the 5-11 Pfizer vaccine is now LIVE in VaxMaX. Ordering for this week will close November 8, and orders will begin to be delivered starting November 12. 

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

2021-11-05T10:28:53-04:00November 5, 2021|Virginia|

Alabama

The Board of Pharmacy has been notified there is another scam whereby an individual is posing as Board staff. The caller identifies herself as “Linda” and claims she is an employee of the Board updating information from a data merge and following up from a letter that had been sent out previously. She first asks for the pharmacy address, the supervising pharmacist and the primary drug wholesaler. She also asks for the account number “for our wholesaler for recall purposes”. There is no one on staff named Linda, so if you receive a call from her, please know this is NOT a legitimate phone call. Please do not entertain this conversation. The Board is not involved with recalls from wholesalers, and any official communication that needs to be sent to you directly will be sent via mail. If you ever have a suspicion whether a phone call, email, fax or other form of communication is legitimate, we welcome you to call our office or send an email to a staff member. You can find our staff directory on our website under “Contact Us”.

Also in Alabama, as a reminder, effective January 1, 2020, all newly registered technicians are required to complete a Board-approved training program within six (6) months of registration. Failure of a technician to complete the required training within the specified time period may result in disciplinary action for the technician, as well as the supervising pharmacist and the permit holder. Any technician required to complete training that has not done so will not be able to renew their technician registration online. Renewal notices have been mailed to all facilities and technicians. Online renewals are now open. Please note that ALBOP will be processing renewals as timely as possible, but to ensure registrations and permits do not lapse, please submit renewals as early as possible.

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

2021-10-28T17:11:34-04:00October 28, 2021|Alabama|

California

The Board of Pharmacy issued a reminder that the following Pharmacy Law Waivers will expire on October 31:

To request a site-specific waiver, use the guidelines posted at How to Request a Pharmacy Law Waiver under “COVID-19 Updates and Resources” on the Board’s website.

Also in California, last week, NACDS and the California Retailers Association sent a joint letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) requesting that California authorize pharmacy technicians to administer flu vaccines to adults in accordance the eighth amendment to the federal declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Act (PREP Act). We also shared the letter with the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Board of Pharmacy.

Also in California, the Board of Pharmacy published a Notice of Proposed Action to amend sections 1793.5 and 1793.6 and to add 1793.65 to Title 16 of the California Code of Regulations related to Pharmacy Technicians. Written comments on the proposed text are due December 6.

Also in California, this week, Magellan released this webinar Q&A as an additional resource for pharmacy providers. Other resources from the Medi-Cal Rx webinar held on October 13 include both the presentation and the audio recording are available. To access the recording, use this link and click on “↓ Download (3 files)” in the upper right corner of the webpage. If your company would like to schedule its own training, please contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801 or sguckian@nacds.org, and we will connect you directly to Magellan and the Department of Health Care Services to schedule the training.

Finally in California, the Department of Health Care Services issued a 60-day beneficiary letter to inform Medi-Cal members about Medi-Cal Rx, the transition of pharmacy services from Managed Medicaid to Fee-for-Service effective January 1, 2022.

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

2021-10-28T17:10:34-04:00October 28, 2021|California|

Delaware

SB 219, legislation enhancing oversight and transparency related to PBMs, became law this week.

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

2021-10-28T17:09:14-04:00October 28, 2021|Delaware|

Georgia

The Department of Public Health, Division of Health Protection, Section of Emergency Preparedness and Response Department has received the following updates on the Moderna Expiry Lot Checker regarding the following lots: 046A21A, 008B21-2A, 017B21A, 020B21A, 022B21A, 039B21A, 046B21A, 044B21A. These have successfully been updated to the expiry look up tool. We have been informed that the Moderna team is continuing to work on the expiry extension and the next batch (weekly) will include five priority lots in distribution and all lots expiring in October.

If any providers have expiring doses that have not been updated in the Moderna Expiry Lot Checker yet, the advice is to safely quarantine the expired doses until the dose extension can be verified and to administer new shipments of Moderna vaccine in the meantime. If providers cannot safely quarantine doses of vaccine with unknown extension status and there is concern that expired does may be administered, please properly dispose of vaccine and report as waste.

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

2021-10-28T17:08:12-04:00October 28, 2021|Georgia|

Iowa

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) posted a NEW Vaccine Information Brief (10.27.21) with important COVID-19 booster dose information, pediatric COVID-19 vaccine planning information and other updates. Note: Given the frequent updates over the last week, please review the current brief in its entirety. For the latest information and updates impacting Iowa’s enrolled vaccine providers, please visit the IDPH COVID-19 Vaccine Providers webpage, and click on the most recent version of the “ Vaccine Information Brief”. If you have questions, contact the COVID-19 Vaccine Call Center at 1-800-831-6293 ext. 1 or COVID19Vaccine@idph.iowa.gov.

Also in Iowa, the Department of Human Services, Iowa Medicaid Enterprise, issued INFORMATIONAL LETTER NO. 2282-MC-FFS announcing an increase in the pharmacy dispensing fee from $10.07 to $10.38 effective November 1. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved the Iowa Medicaid Enterprise’s State Plan Amendment (SPA) for the increased dispensing fee.

Finally in Iowa, the Department of Human Services, Iowa Medicaid Enterprise, issued INFORMATIONAL LETTER NO. 2279-MC-FFS-D seeking feedback from providers with a goal of improving the effectiveness of services provided to Medicaid members. Iowa Medicaid developed a survey to gather provider feedback with a deadline of November 15.

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

2021-10-28T17:07:22-04:00October 28, 2021|Iowa|

© National Association of Chain Drug Stores
All Rights Reserved | Privacy & Disclaimer

Go to Top