Ohio
The Board of Pharmacy published a bulletin regarding Registered Technician license renewals. The renewal period opened on January 31.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.
Pennsylvania
The Board of Pharmacy has posted the agenda for the February 6 meeting.
Also in Pennsylvania, a PACE Provider bulletin announcing benefit and corresponding billing code changes to the Pharmacy Naloxone Copay Assistance Program was published. The bulletin announces a new limit of $50 per prescription and a new policy that requires coordination of benefits for insured patients.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.
South Carolina
DisposeRx announced a grant opportunity and is looking to identify pharmacies in the state to provide education on safe medication disposal and dispense DisposeRx packets with controlled substance prescriptions, with an emphasis on opioids. In turn, the pharmacies will receive reimbursement for educating the patients and dispensing the packets.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
Tennessee
On January 17, the Pharmacy Podcast Network announced the winners of the 2023 50 Most Influential Leaders in Pharmacy to celebrate “professionals whose thoughts, actions, accomplishments and leadership have helped solve clinical, customer service and financial problems.” Congratulations to TPA Immediate Past President Jay Phipps for earning the number two spot on the list!
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
Texas
The quarterly public meeting of the Board of Pharmacy will be held on February 6, at the Barbara Jordan State Office Building, Room 2.013. The agenda and meeting materials are posted. Live live-stream information is available on the board’s website. Anyone wishing to address the Board regarding an agenda item during the public meeting must submit a Public Comment Request form by 5:00 pm on February 2. Oral comments will be limited to the agenda items.
Also in Texas, Jill Dutton (R) won the January 30 special runoff election, by 107 votes out of more than 13,500 cast, to replace expelled Rep. Bryan Slaton (R) for House District 2. The victory is short-lived as she will face off against the same GOP candidate Brent Money in the March 5 Republican primary election.
Also in Texas, the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) drafted a policy to apply a uniform 90-day supply of maintenance medications in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The HHSC received pushback from stakeholders expressing difficulty obtaining a 90-day supply of medication. You can submit comments by February 15 to the HHSC Vendor Drug Program (VDP) using the Draft Policy Comment Submission form.
Also in Texas, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are required to notify the Board of a change of employment within ten days. This information can be found in Board rule §291.3 for pharmacists and Board rule §297.9 for pharmacy technicians.
Finally in Texas, HHSC’s VDP (Vendor Drug Program) posted a pharmacy education and opportunities page on its website so that pharmacies know what pharmacy items Medicaid pays for, which products require prior authorization and who to contact with questions about claim processing.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Washington
The Department of Health briefed pharmacy stakeholders, sharing recent data by age group on COVID vaccinations administered.
Also in Washington, the first of two Pharmacy Legislative Days at the Capitol that NACDS sponsored was held last week and was a huge success. Pharmacists and students were briefed on the priority issues before meeting with legislators.
Also in Washington, changes to the long-acting insulin class on the Preferred Drug List (PDL) go into effect on April 1.
Also in Washington, HB 2116, sponsored by pharmacist legislator Rep. My-Linh Thai (D), was heard in the House Committee on Health Care and Wellness last week and is now dead because it failed to be voted out of the policy committee before the January 31 deadline. This bill would have expanded prescriptive authority for pharmacists.
Also in Washington, the state’s Health and Human Services Enterprise Coalition, a group of Washington state health and social service agencies, published an annual update to its Washington State Action Plan for Removing Barriers to Health and Human Services.
Also in Washington, Apple Health (Medicaid) updated several client booklets.
Finally in Washington, effective February 1, the Health Care Authority, Apple Health Fee-For-Service (FFS) is increasing the morphine milligram equivalent (MME) conversion factors used to determine total daily MME under the Apple Health Opioid Policy to the following:
- Hydromorphone MME conversion factor of 5 (increased from 4)
- Tramadol MME conversion factor of 0.2 (increased from 0.1)
The Apple Health MME calculator conversion factors are based on the Washington State Agency Medical Directors’ (AMDG) and CDC guidelines for prescribing opioids for pain.
Opioids are limited to 120 MMEs per day. Pharmacy claims for opioids will reject if a single prescription or a combination of prescriptions exceed the MME limit. If a pharmacy claim rejects for exceeding the MME limit, request a prior authorization.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Wyoming
Gov. Mark Gordon (R) announced the launch of an initiative to address the state’s ongoing mental health crisis. The Governor’s “Mental Health Roadmap” takes steps to advance systemic behavioral health reform. As part of the initiative, the five pillars identified as critical to improving outcomes for those who are battling mental health issues are access to care, affordability of care, quality of care, innovation and suicide prevention and anti-stigma efforts.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
Alabama
The Alabama Pharmacy Association is currently accepting nominations for the chain designated seat on the Board of Pharmacy. Please submit nominations to Louise Jones by email at LJones@aparx.org or by fax to 334-271-5423. All nominations must include the name, place of employment, and contact information for both the nominee and nominator. All nominations must be received no later than March 31.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
Alaska
The Board of Pharmacy statutes and revised regulations that took effect on January 19 are now posted on the Board’s website.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.