Last week, the Board of Pharmacy approved regulations NACDS supported that if approved by the Legislature, will increase the pharmacy technician to pharmacist ratio from 2:1 to 5:1.
Also in Oklahoma… NACDS is closely monitoring SB 856, legislation pending in the House Health Committee that pharmacies oppose filed by pharmacist Sen. Rob Standridge (R) that would limit the technician to pharmacist ratio to 2:1.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Gov. Doug Burgum (R) signed into law SB 2231 effective Thursday, August 1. The law allows pharmacists to initiate/modify drug therapy pursuant to established protocols, authorizes a pharmacist to furnish different types of medications, and eliminates some of the administrative requirements for collaborative practice agreements.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Joel Kurzman at 847-905-0555.
New York met its April 1 deadline for completion of its 2019-20 state budget. The final budget included a rejection of an across-the-board reduction in Medicaid claims totaling $380 million in combined federal and state dollars and included the elimination of spread pricing for Medicaid Managed Care plans. It did not include an expansion of the pharmacy technician ratio that was supported by NACDS. A $100 million opioid excise tax on drug manufacturers and wholesalers was also included. NACDS and the Community Pharmacy Association of New York State worked diligently to reject this tax citing that this would really be a tax on patients and pharmacies. NACDS is coordinating a legal review of the new tax law with the Healthcare Distribution Alliance to identify potential legal challenges, if any, to the new law.
For more information, please contact NACDS’ Ben Pearlman at 617-515-2603.
AB 310, legislation introduced by Speaker of the House Jason Frierson (D) mandating e-prescribing for all controlled substances by Friday, January 1, 2021, was heard in the Senate Business and Commerce Committee last week.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) signed into law SB 221, legislation that will permit pharmacists and other healthcare providers who prescribe an opioid analgesic for a patient to co-prescribe an opioid antagonist if the amount of opioid analgesic being prescribed is at least a five-day supply effective Tuesday, June 4.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
SB 322, legislation creating a $5 million endorsement fee and endorsement license on wholesalers distributing opioids into the state, has failed to gain a majority vote in committee and failed an attempt to pull the bill directly to the floor. The bill is now considered dead for the 2019 Legislative Session.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
Effective April 1, the Division of Medicaid (DOM) updated its Voluntary 90-Day Drug Maintenance List for prescribing/pharmacy providers. This list is a resource to help clinicians manage a Medicaid beneficiary’s monthly prescription drug limit, unless clinically contraindicated.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
A bill requiring the e-prescribing of controlled substances has passed both chambers and will soon be on Gov. Eric Holcomb’s (R) desk for signature. SB 176, sponsored by pharmacist Sen. Ron Grooms (R), was amended in the House Health Committee to include e-prescribing language similar to the NACDS model language, and both chambers subsequently passed the bill unanimously. NACDS supported the on-the-ground efforts of the Indiana Retail Council to advance this critical bill.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.
Last week, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) Medi-Cal hosted a webinar to provide pharmacy stakeholders with more information on the rollout of the retroactive claim adjustments for the dates of service — April 1, 2017 through February 23, 2019, which was the date DHCS began implementing the new fee-for-service (FFS) reimbursement methodology.
Also in California… Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) appointed practicing pediatrician and director of health and social impact for Los Angeles County, Mark Ghaly, as Secretary of Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS) to help lead the administration’s efforts to advance the Governor’s healthcare agenda, including proposals to lower prescription drug costs, provide coverage to young undocumented adults through Medi-Cal and help put California on a path toward single-payer health care.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.