Rachel Michelin, the President of the California Retailers Association (CRA), has recently hired Steve McCarthy as Vice President of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs and Jacob (Jake) Asare as Legislative Advocate. CRA is NACDS’ in-state partner on pharmacy issues.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
NACDS and the California Retail Association submitted a joint letter to the Assembly Health Committee in support of AB 1803, legislation that delays the implementation of AB 315 (Chapter #905, 2018) and AB 2863 (Chapter #770, 2018) until Wednesday, January 1, 2020. In our letter, we pledged to continue to work with the legislature and the Board of Pharmacy to ensure that patients have receipts showing their cash payments so that they can submit information to their health plan to be applied against their deductibles.
Also in California… AB 1131, legislation that NACDS and the California Retailers Association support requiring comprehensive medication management (CMM) for Medi-Cal patients, passed the Assembly and was referred to the Senate for further action. The bill requires the Department of Health Care Services to establish reimbursement rates and rate billing codes for CMM services provided by a licensed pharmacist.
Also in California… The Board of Pharmacy re-elected all three officers: Victor Law as president, Greg Lippe as vice president and Allen Schaad as treasurer.
Despite successfully amending AB 1468 to carve pharmacies out of the definition of wholesalers, chain pharmacies submitted a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee opposing the opioid tax bill because it could increase the cost of opioid medications for patients.
Also in California… Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced a statewide tour to launch his “California for All” healthcare proposals expanding Medi-Cal coverage to all eligible undocumented young adults ages 19-25, providing subsidies/monthly discounts to middle-income families, creating a single-purchaser system for prescription drugs and working with Congress to create a federal waiver allowing California to move toward single payer.
Also in California… AB 1803, legislation pharmacies support that would clean up a law that passed last session requiring that when a prescription drug’s purchase price is lower than the patient copayment and the patient chooses to pay cash, the pharmacy must transmit cost information to a health plan or insurer so the cost can be applied to the patient’s deductible, has passed the Assembly and is pending action by the full Senate. This bill delays the effective date of these requirements from January 1, 2019, to Wednesday, January 1, 2020, to allow time to establish a protocol for transmitting this information.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
SB 617, legislation introduced by Sen. Steve Glazer (D), Chair of the Senate Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee, would allow pharmacies with collective bargaining agreements and meeting certain requirements to petition the Board of Pharmacy to increase the pharmacy technician to pharmacist ratio from 1:1 to 3:1. The bill was amended and passed the Committee on April 22 and has been referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
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.
The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) announced that they are targeting the Medi-Cal pharmacy fee-for-service reimbursement rate changes to begin Saturday, February 23. DHCS will retroactively adjust impacted claims with dates of service between April 1, 2017 and February 23, 2019.
Also in California…The Department of Health Care Services is reminding pharmacies that the online attestation portal opened for fee-for-service Medi-Cal pharmacy providers seeking the higher of two professional dispensing fees as part of the forthcoming reimbursement changes for covered outpatient drugs will end on Thursday, February 28.
Also in California… NACDS and the California Retailers Association submitted a joint letter to the Senate Business and Professions Committee in support of AB 149, legislation allowing for a staggered implementation of the new serialized number requirement. Under AB 149, serialized numbers on security forms for controlled substances would take effect no later than Wednesday, January 1, 2020. In addition, the measure would authorize dispensers to fill prescriptions written on otherwise valid forms that do not meet the new serialized number requirement until Friday, January 1, 2021.
Also in California… Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed an executive order last month that seeks to create a single purchaser for prescription drugs. Specifically, the order seeks to create negotiating leverage for prescription drug costs by moving all purchasing of high-cost, “high-priority” pharmaceuticals to one entity and, with respect to Medi-Cal, all pharmacy services to fee-for-service.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) announced that they are targeting the Medi-Cal pharmacy fee-for-service reimbursement rate changes to begin Saturday, February 23, meaning that DHCS will retroactively adjust impacted claims with dates of service between April 1, 2017 and the targeted February 23 date of implementation.
Also in California…On January 15, the online attestation portal opened for Medi-Cal fee-for-service pharmacy providers seeking the higher of two professional dispensing fees as part of the forthcoming reimbursement changes for covered outpatient drugs.
Also in California…On January 28, NACDS and the California Retailers Association submitted a joint letter to the Senate Business and Professions Committee in support of AB 149, legislation allowing for a staggered implementation of the new serialized number requirement. Under AB 149, serialized numbers on security forms for controlled substances would take effect no later than Wednesday, January 1, 2020. In addition, the measure would authorize dispensers to fill prescriptions written on otherwise valid forms that do not meet the new serialized number requirement until Friday, January 1, 2021.
Also in California…On January 7, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed an executive order that seeks to create a single purchaser for prescription drugs. Specifically, the order seeks to create negotiating leverage for prescription drug costs by moving all purchasing of high-cost, “high-priority” pharmaceuticals to one entity and, with respect to Medi-Cal, all pharmacy services to fee-for-service.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Effective October 28, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) lifted its moratorium on the enrollment of pharmacy providers for the Medi-Cal fee-for-service program in Los Angeles County. For more information, contact the Provider Enrollment Message Center at 916-323-1945 or submit your question via e-mail or NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Also in California…In mid-November, DHCS will publish an article in the Medi-Cal Pharmacy Updates bulletin informing providers seeking the higher of the two professional dispensing fees on drug claims for Fiscal Year 2019-20 that the next attestation will start in January 2019 for calendar year 2018 claim volume. If your company would like to centralize the coordination of attestations, please contact Trudi Balestreri.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.
Pharmacies installing or discontinuing drug take-back collection receptacles can now electronically notify the Board of Pharmacy. Requirements for drug take-back services, including collection receptacles and mail-back envelopes, are in California Code of Regulations, Title 16, Article 9.1.
Also in California…The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) announced plans to implement a new Medi-Cal fee-for-service cost-based reimbursement methodology in late 2018. After system implementation, DHCS intends to make retroactive adjustments for all claims with dates of service between April 1, 2017, and the date of system implementation.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.