Nebraska
The Board of Pharmacy distributed its November 6 meeting agenda and the September 18 draft meeting minutes.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
Nevada
The Legislative Commission appointed Interim Committee positions. Senator Fabian Donate (D), the co-Majority Whip as the Chair the Interim Committee on Health and Human Services, and Assemblyman David Orentlicher (D) to serve as Vice-Chair.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
New York
Medicaid posted a COVID-19 vaccine billing guidance for this season. The Medicaid “Pharmacists as Immunizers Fact Sheet” has information on how to bill for vaccines for over and under 19 years of age and a link to the Vaccine for Children (VFC) Program. Please be advised that Medicaid does reimburse for the COVID-19 vaccine and administration at Medicaid qualified pharmacies for adults 19 years of age and older. Children under the age of 19 years are vaccinated for COVID-19 and all other ACIP–recommended vaccines at VFC enrolled providers, including their practitioner’s office, public health clinics or, in most areas, their county health department. At this time, pharmacies dually enrolled in Medicaid and VFC may also immunize children between the ages of 3 to under 19 years of age for COVID-19, and ages of 2 to under 19 years for influenza, in accordance with the federal PREP (Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness) Act and/or state law.
For more information, please contact NACDS’ Ben Pearlman at 617-515-2603.
Oregon
The Board of Pharmacy issued a public notice of and agenda for its Strategic Planning Meeting scheduled to be held November 8-9, 2023. See agenda for details to participate in the meeting either in-person or virtually.
Also in Oregon, On August 11, 2023, the Oregon Board of Pharmacy voted to permanently adopt, effective March 1, 2024, OAR 855-115-0150(3) Pharmacist: Prohibited Practices. This rule says that pharmacists are not allowed to diagnose patients. The Board adopted this rule because there is no authority in ORS chapter 689 for pharmacists to diagnose and the Board wanted to make sure that pharmacists know this. On September 25, 2023, the Oregon Board of Pharmacy received a petition to repeal OAR 855-115-0150(3) pursuant to OAR 137-001-0070 Petition to Promulgate, Amend, or Repeal Rule; see below for details.
Proposed Amendments: OAR 855-115-0150(3) Pharmacist: Prohibited Practices
Petitioner’s proposed amendment:
“Pharmacists must not:”
“(3) Diagnose.”
Pursuant to OAR 137-001-0070(3), the Board of Pharmacy is inviting written public comment on the adopted rule, including
(a) Options for achieving the existing rule’s substantive goals while reducing the negative economic impact on businesses;
(b) The continued need for the existing rule;
(c) The complexity of the existing rule;
(d) The extent to which the existing rule overlaps, duplicates, or conflicts with other state or federal rules and with local government regulations;
(e) The degree to which technology, economic conditions, or other factors have changed in the subject area affected by the existing rule, since the agency adopted the rule; and
Written public comments may be submitted to the Board of Pharmacy by email at pharmacy.rulemaking@bop.oregon.gov. The public comment period will close on November 15 at 4:30 pm. The board will review the public comments received at the December board meeting and will in writing, within 90 days after receipt of the petition, either deny the petition or initiate rulemaking proceedings pursuant to OAR 137-001-0070(4)(c). If you have any questions, please reach out to the Rules Coordinator, at pharmacy.rulemaking@bop.oregon.gov.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.
Texas
The third special session ends November 7, so lawmakers only have a short window of time to move forward on the Governor’s priority legislation on school vouchers and funding, prohibiting private employer COVID mandates and border security. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has hinted at the possibility of a fourth special session if his school vouchers proposal does not pass.
Also in Texas, HEB’s Austin Pharmacy and Wellness teams toured NACDS Texas lobbyists through two HEB facilities, educating our team on the operations and healthcare services provided to the local community.
Also in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) appointed Raymond Charles Winter as Inspector General for Texas Health and Human Services, replacing Sylvia Hernandez Kauffman, who served for six years.
Also in Texas, the Health, and Human Services Commission’s (HHSC) Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is hosting an Immunization Webinar on November 8. Topics include influenza programs, adult immunizations, current disease rates and strategies to improve immunization coverage.
Finally in Texas, HHSC’s DSHS’ announced a $4 million dollar grant to help implement policies and programs to prevent the use of dangerous drugs like fentanyl. The agency will create new tools to analyze the causes and effects of drug poisoning and then use that information to develop science-based strategies to prevent drug use and poisonings.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Virginia
The Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) has invited pharmacy stakeholders to participate in a webinar on October 30 regarding the upcoming implementation of a system to reimburse pharmacies for clinical services as mandated by the passage of HB (House Bill) 1538 of 2023. DMAS also released the presentation from the previous workgroup meeting. DMAS intends to reimburse pharmacies for all the services added to pharmacy scope of practice over the last several legislative sessions, including immunizations and test & treat. DMAS is specifically interested in guidance from pharmacies as they build the claims system. NACDS suggests that members share the invite with staff with expertise in this area.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.
Washington
Since the settlement and dismissal of our six-year-old lawsuit against the State of Washington for its below cost dispensing fees, NACDS, NCPA (National Community Pharmacists Association) and the Washington State Pharmacy Association have been monitoring the state’s compliance with its obligations. In terms of the state’s obligation to pursue a cost of dispensing study, the state issued a “work request” for a vendor to do the study on September 19, with the deadline for responses due October 21. The cost of dispensing study is supposed to start November 1. In terms of the retroactive payments to pharmacies for April 2017 through June 2023, the state reports that the process is in place and payments should be starting very soon. As for implementing the adjusted dispensing fees effective July 2023, the state needs CMS’ approval of the state plan amendment (SPA) pending before CMS with those new dispensing fees first. The state anticipates such approval to be forthcoming.
Also in Washington, the State Department of Health Office of Health Professions is hosting a Vaccine Fatigue Webinar on November 3.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Alabama
The Board of Pharmacy announced renewals for pharmacy technicians, pharmacy interns and facilities are open as of September 15 and are due December 31, 2023. Visit our website to renew and find more information.
Also in Alabama, at the last Joint Committee meeting, both Board of Pharmacy and Board of Medical Examiners discussed the topic of Test to Treat in community pharmacies. Both Boards decided to begin the Rule-making process to amend our Rule to allow for Test to Treat under certain conditions. To learn more about what conditions must be met before beginning Test to Treat, you can view the drafted language on the website.
Furthermore, the Boards will also soon be reviewing a test-to-treat protocol that was approved at the last Joint Committee meeting. You can view the draft test-to-treat protocol here. For more information, reach out to anolen@albop.com
The emergency rule 680-X-2-.49-.01ER Remote Work by Pharmacists is currently in place until October 29, 2023. The permanent rule is effective November 13, 2023.
Finally in Alabama, please see the most recent Alabama Medicaid ALERT related to resuming the cumulative MME (morphine milligram equivalents) phase-down edits, effective November 1, 2023. This will be the first MME phase-down since the end of the PHE (Public Health Emergency).
For more information, contact NACDS’ Leigh Knotts at 803-243-7207.
Alaska
The Board of Pharmacy is proposing to adopt regulation changes dealing with adding a retired status pharmacist license and implementing additional statutory changes to AS 08.80 under Chapter 15, SLA 2023 (HB (House Bill) 112). Written Comments should be submitted to RegulationsAndPublicComment@alaska.gov by November 16, 2023
- Notice of Proposed Regulations (Available at midnight)
- Proposed Regulations
- Proposed Regulations FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Also in Alaska, the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development – Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing is proposing to remove all language referencing registrations and to add retired status pharmacist license fee. Written Comments should be submitted to RegulationsAndPublicComment@alaska.gov by November 16, 2023.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.