On June 28, the California Legislature passed and the Governor signed into law AB 375, which is sweeping new privacy legislation that will place numerous additional privacy requirements on businesses and give consumers broad, new rights. This legislation, though officially opposed by the business community, was presented by legislators to the industry on June 21 as a “take it or leave it” alternative to the Consumer Privacy Initiative, which would have appeared on the November ballot.

Effective Wednesday, January 1, 2020, the law gives consumers various rights with respect to their personal information collected by businesses—the right to access it, the right to delete it, the right to know what information/categories of information are collected, the right to know whether that information is being sold or shared, the right to stop a business from selling that info and the right to equal service and price. It also contains a private right of action for data breaches and gives enforcement and regulatory powers to the Attorney General.

AB 375 impacts any business with gross annual revenues over $25 million that collects consumers’ personal information. Compliance will consist of new notice and disclosure requirements, privacy policy revisions and limitations on what information can be collected, shared and sold.

Also in California…Gov. Edmund Brown, Jr. (D), announced the re-appointment of public member Ricardo Sanchez, and new appointment of acute care pharmacist Maria Serpa to the Board of Pharmacy.

Also in California…The executive officer of the Board of Pharmacy, Virginia Herold, announced that she will be retiring at the end of the year. Prior to assuming the position in January 2007, she served as assistant executive officer of the Board for 16.5 years and interim executive officer for seven months.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.

SB 1442, legislation sponsored by United Food & Commercial Workers Union that requires no pharmacist to be left alone in a store, was successfully amended recently. As amended, the bill will both refer to “community pharmacy” and include an itemization of exempted entities to make very clear which pharmacies must comply. Redrafted language regarding the bill’s core requirement will read that an employee must be “made available to assist the pharmacist at all times.” This redrafted language was negotiated to ensure that any employee in the store can assist the pharmacist, if needed, and not just a pharmacy technician or pharmacy clerk. The final language exempts the new requirements from the misdemeanor provisions without further specifying remedies, essentially retaining the Board of Pharmacy’s enforcement options while ensuring violations won’t constitute a new crime.

Also in California…AB 2789, legislation by Assemblymember Jim Wood (D) sponsored by the Board of Pharmacy that will require all prescriptions to be transmitted electronically by Saturday, January 1, 2022, was again amended in the Senate Appropriations Committee on July 3.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.

Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D) announced the following committee changes:

• Senator Ricardo Lara (D) will be the Chair of the Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations.
• Senator Anthony Portantino (D) will be Chair of the Committee on Appropriations.
• Senator Richard Pan (D) will be Chair of the Committee on Health.
• Senator Mike McGuire (D) is appointed to the Education Committee as a member to fill a current vacancy.
• Senator Ben Allen (D) remains the Chair of the Committee on Education.

Also in California… Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. (D) announced the appointment of Diana Dooley as Executive Secretary in the Office of Governor. She has served as Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency since 2011. Michael Wilkening was appointed Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, where he has served as Undersecretary since 2008.

Also in California… Assemblymember Kevin McCarty’s (D) opioid rebate bill (AB 2486) was significantly amended and is now an opioid tax. Chain pharmacies would be included in the definition of wholesaler and would be subject to the tax. The language also includes taxing intracompany transfers of opioids, which means intracompany transfers from a pharmacy warehouse to its own pharmacy would be subject to the tax.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.

Dr. Karen Smith, the Department of Public Health’s Director and State Health Officer, issued a naloxone standing order to counter the effects of opioid overdose. The order allows organizations that cannot prescribe naloxone to distribute it to those who are at risk of experiencing an opioid-related overdose and to other persons in a position to assist during an opioid-related overdose. The order also authorizes the administration of naloxone to assist a person experiencing or suspected of experiencing an opioid overdose by a family member, friend or other person who has received training from an opioid overdose prevention and treatment training program. Entities can apply for the standing order online.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.

To fill a vacancy on the 13-member Board of Pharmacy, Gov. Jerry Brown, Jr. (D) appointed Shirley Kim of Los Angeles as a public member. Kim has been an associate at Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP since 2016. She earned her law degree at the University of California, Irvine School of Law.

Also in California…New officers were elected at the May 2 Board of Pharmacy meeting. Serving as president is independent pharmacist Victor Law. Public member Greg Lippe is now the vice president and hospital pharmacist Allen Schaad was re-elected to serve as treasurer.

Also in California…NACDS and the California Retailers Association submitted a joint letter to legislators outlining their position on statewide drug and/or sharps take back legislation (SB 212 & AB 444). The associations stated their support for a statewide framework funded by manufacturers. They also affirmed that it is essential that pharmacies’ participation be voluntary with a variety of disposal options that they can offer to meet local convenience thresholds based on the needs of their communities.

Also in California…AB 2741, sponsored by Assemblywoman Autumn Burke (D), passed the Assembly 53-0. If enacted, this legislation would limit doctors from prescribing more than five days’ worth of opioid drugs to minors and includes certain exemptions for situations such as medical emergencies, hospice care and other instances where doctors deem a longer prescription medically necessary. It now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Lastly in California…On May 9, the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 1 on Health and Human Services passed a $1 billion healthcare spending proposal on a party-line vote. The $1 billion proposal allocates $330 million to expand coverage in the Medi-Cal program, $50 million to increase healthcare cost transparency, $114 million to expand the healthcare workforce and $500-$550 million to provide healthcare premium assistance.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.

In an effort to better explain the new Board of Pharmacy regulation on Inventory Reconciliation Report of Controlled Substances that went into effect on April 1, the Board developed answers to a list of frequently asked questions. A summary on the regulation and FAQs may be viewed on the board’s website.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.

On April 11, the Assembly Business and Professions Committee held a hearing on AB 2789, Assemblymember Jim Wood’s (D) mandatory e-prescribing bill sponsored by the Board of Pharmacy. NACDS and the California Retailers Association submitted a joint support letter.

Also in California…The Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is hosting a Medi-Cal Stakeholder Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday, May 17 in Sacramento. Director Jennifer Kent will provide updates on federal and state developments, including health care policy issues affecting DHCS and Section 1115 waiver implementation efforts. To view meeting information, materials, or historical documents, please visit the DHCS website.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.

NACDS and the California Retailers Association are seeking clarification from the Board of Pharmacy on inventory reconciliation reporting requirements scheduled to be implemented on Sunday, April 1.

Also in California…EZIZ is the e-learning and resource website for California’s VFC (Vaccines for Children) Program. It offers an online toolkit with information and resources for pharmacists providing immunization services. The website is operated by the California Department of Public Health and includes a Pharmacy Resources webpage. The link is also on the Vaccinations webpage at the Board of Pharmacy website.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.

The Board of Pharmacy announced its final regulations for pharmacists to furnish, without a prescription, naloxone, an antidote to reverse opioid overdose, became effective January 27, 2016. The San Francisco Department of Health has published a tri-fold brochuretitled “Opioid safety and how to use naloxone—A Guide for Patients and Caregivers”.

Also in California…On Friday, March 2, the Board of Pharmacy is offering pharmacists one hour of free continuing education credit on law and ethics by attending a live recording of a presentation on law and ethics at the California Department of Consumer Affairs—Building Two, 1747 N. Market Blvd., Room 186, in Sacramento.

Also in California…Reminder: Wednesday, February 28 is the deadline to file an attestation claim for the higher professional dispensing fee in the Medi-Cal fee-for-service program. The attestation period for both the 2016 and 2017 calendar years is open until February 28, 2018. Separate attestations must be submitted for each calendar year. The web portal will close at 12 a.m. on Thursday, March 1, 2018, and attestations will not be accepted after that time. The attestation for each calendar year reporting period will determine the professional dispensing fee component of the pharmacy claim reimbursement for claims with dates of service within the State’s following fiscal year. As an example, a 2017 calendar year claim volume attestation will determine the professional dispensing fee for claims within the State’s 2018—2019 fiscal year (dates of service of Sunday, July 1, 2018, through Sunday, June 30, 2019). For additional information, providers may refer to this background information regarding migration to cost-based reimbursement plus a professional dispensing fee or can refer to the Pharmacy Provider Self-Attestation FAQs or the Pharmacy Reimbursement Project webpage on the Department of Health Care Services website.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.