The Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) has scheduled a Naloxone Day on September 14. Naloxone will be made available at no cost to anonymous recipients who present themselves at pharmacies that have obtained standing orders from the Chief Medical Executive or a Michigan licensed physician. Please see the MDHHS notice for details.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Joel Kurzman at 847-905-0555.
The Department of Health and Human Services has issued a new standing order to facilitate access to naloxone. The previous standing order is now expired.
Also in Nebraska… The state is converting to a new Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) vendor. Please see the NeHII Notification as well as the new Implementation Guide. Please recall pharmacies are required to report all drugs to the PDMP.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Joel Kurzman at 847-905-0555.
The Health Care Authority’s (OHCA) budget approved by the Legislature earlier this year included 5% across-the-board rate increases for Medicaid providers. The OHCA submitted a SPA to CMS that details the pharmacy professional dispensing fee rate increase from the $10.87 to $11.41 effective Tuesday, October 1. NACDS submitted comments in support of the pharmacy rate increase on-line and encourages members to submit comments electronically.
Also in Oklahoma… Effective Sunday, September 1, the Office of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control will require pharmacies to report any opioid as being used for the treatment of acute or chronic pain as enacted by SB 848. Along with this requirement, the PMP is also requiring pharmacies to report for any non-opioid controlled substance prescription. NACDS submitted a letter sharing concerns that given the inadequate notice to providers of the upcoming implementation and system inabilities, participating pharmacies will not have enough time to make the necessary changes to fully comply with these reporting requirements.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Effective Tuesday, September 24, the pharmacist to pharmacy technician ratio will be eliminated. “(1) The ratio of pharmacy technicians to pharmacist(s) on duty is to be determined by the responsible pharmacy manager. (2) The responsible pharmacy manager will ensure that the number of pharmacy technicians on duty can be satisfactorily supervised by the pharmacist(s) on duty.”
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
The Montana Board of Pharmacy approved rules to increase the pharmacy technician to pharmacist ratio from 3:1 to 4:1 with anticipated implementation in September 2019. The rules will continue to allow pharmacies to request a waiver above the new 4:1 ratio.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
Gov. Kate Brown (D) signed into law HB 3273, directing each covered manufacturer of covered drugs sold within the state to develop and implement a drug take-back program. Similar to Washington State’s law, the program is to be funded by drug manufacturers operating in the state, is voluntary for pharmacies to participate and provides for local pre-emption. The Environmental Quality Commission may adopt rules, as necessary, with assistance from the State Board of Pharmacy. Each drug take-back program must be operational by July 1, 2021.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
As a reminder, the below paragraph was an ALERT disseminated to all pharmacy providers on October 26, 2006 and has been posted on the Agency website since that date. This policy continues to be in effect. Per Alabama Medicaid Administrative Code, Rule No. 560-X-16-.06 “Reimbursement for Covered Drugs and Services”, “usual and customary” is defined as the “charge to the general public regardless of program fees”.
In response to pharmacy retailers’ recent announcements of reduced prices for specific generic drugs, the Alabama Medicaid Agency will consider these reduced prices to be the “usual and customary” price for these retailers. Retrospective audits identifying claims that are inappropriately charging Alabama Medicaid any amount over the usual and customary amount will be recouped. Please refer to our Administrative Code Rule No. 560-X-16-.06, “Reimbursement for Covered Drugs”, as well as Provider Billing Manual Chapter 27, for more information on our reimbursement policy.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
Last week, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) held a webinar to lay out DHCS’s plan to transition all Medi-Cal pharmacy services from managed care to fee-for-service by Friday, January 1, 2021. The slides outline the pharmacy carve-out policy and estimated fiscal savings for the state. More information can be found on DHCS’ homepage.
Also in California… During its recent meeting, the Board of Pharmacy took the following actions. Acting President Greg Lippe announced the resignation Victor Law, RPh, the Board’s president, and new officers will be elected at the next meeting on Friday, September 13. The board also voted to begin rulemaking to add new rules on compounding of nonsterile preparations, such as flavorings, and to proceed with rulemaking on community pharmacy staffing (B&P Section 4113.5 /SB 1442, Statutes of 2018).
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Though its original implementation was slated for December 2019, last week, the Board of Pharmacy voted not to adopt USP General Chapter <800>, standards for safe handling of hazardous drugs to minimize the risk of exposure to healthcare personnel, patients and the environment. NACDS supported efforts of our in-state partners to advocate against the state adopting these standards at this time.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.