The Prescription Monitoring Program’s (PMP) Advisory Committee will meet via Zoom on June 27.
Also in Texas, the Health and Human Services Commission’s (HHSC) Vendor Drug Program (VDP) is hosting a Hepatitis C educational webinar on June 13.
Finally in Texas, the Texas Pharmaceutical Initiative (TPI) Board’s next meeting will be held on June 11 at 10:00 am.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
As the Department of Vermont Health Access (DVHA) has previously reported, Change Healthcare (CHC), which operates Vermont’s Medicaid pharmacy claims system, experienced a significant cybersecurity issue on February 21. The cybersecurity incident impacted enrolled pharmacy providers’ ability to process and submit claims for Medicaid services. In response to the outage, Vermont Medicaid is temporarily increasing the Professional Dispensing Fee for retail pharmacies.
Vermont Medicaid will provide an enhanced Professional Dispensing Fee for prescribed drugs to account for the manual and time-consuming procedures pharmacies had to perform due to the Change Healthcare outage. The Professional Dispensing Fee for pharmacy claims of $11.13 will increase by $3.26 per claim to $14.39, from June 3, 2024, to June 30, 2024. This change will be automatically implemented for pharmacy claims, excluding specialty drug and 340B drug claims. Providers are not required to enroll or apply for the enhanced professional dispensing fee. Standard payment of covered outpatient drugs, including over the counter (OTC) drugs, billed to DVHA on a primary basis and dispensed by an enrolled pharmacy is detailed in the Pharmacy Provider Manual. All manuals and rules are available online.
This change is one of several temporary flexibility and changes being made to support providers impacted by the Change Healthcare cybersecurity incident. Additional information on these changes can be found in Global Commitment Register 24-029 Change Healthcare Outage—Medicaid Response. Please contact the Change Healthcare Pharmacy Help Desk with any questions at 1-844-679-5362.
For more information, please contact NACDS’ Ben Pearlman at 617-515-2603.
The Health Care Authority (HCA) will change to a new pharmacy point-of-sale system on June 8. The system will be off from midnight until 3:30 pm on June 8-9. HCA will notify providers once the new system is running and can adjudicate claims. At 5:00 pm on June 6, pharmacy prior authorization faxes will cease being accepted. HCA will start accepting prior authorization faxes again on June 10. HCA’s ProviderOne Point of Sale (POS) Replacement Project provided an updated payer sheet.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
HB 226D, comprehensive legislation pharmacies supported to ensure patient choice of pharmacy, improve transparency and accountability in pharmacy benefit management and enhance the standards for pharmaceutical care across the state, passed the legislature. The bill is awaiting transmittal to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s (R) office to be signed into law.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
The Department of Health Care Services posted the following alerts and weekly report on the Medi-Cal Rx Web Portal.
Also in California, on May 28, the article titled “Change Healthcare Cybersecurity Issue Update” was posted to the Medi-Cal News area on the Medi-Cal Provider website.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
CO24-209, practice act expansion, passed both houses and was sent to Gov. Jared Polis (D) to sign into law.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
The Department of Health and Human Services, Iowa Medicaid posted INFORMATIONAL LETTER NO. 2589-MC-FFS-D “Discover IA SAIL: Planning for and Addressing Aging Issues Across the Lifespan”.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
HB 579, the PEP/PrEP bill supported by pharmacies, passed both houses and will soon be sent to Gov. Jeff Landry (R) to be signed into law. The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn by 6:00 pm on June 3.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
On May 23, the Senate passed its version of the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. The budget bill will now advance to a legislative conference to work out differences before the end of the fiscal year, June 30, 2024. The relevant issue to pharmacies is language included in the House, but not in the Senate, that would authorize a registered pharmacist to administer a prescription for testosterone for gender-affirming care and for the treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted infections including the prevention of HIV infections. The administration of these therapies shall be in accordance with regulations promulgated by the Department of Public Health in consultation with the Board of Pharmacy and the Department of Mental Health. This proposed change amends the current law which authorizes pharmacists to administer drugs for the treatment of mental health and substance abuse disorders. NACDS will continue to monitor the budget process.
For more information, please contact NACDS’ Ben Pearlman at 617-515-2603.