Former State Sen. Vicki Schmidt (R), a pharmacist, will be sworn in Monday, January 14, as the state’s Commissioner of Insurance. The Commissioner-Elect is strong in her belief that more pharmacists should run for public office.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.

The Board of Pharmacy’s Technician Task Force will submit language to the Board recommending increasing the current 3:1 pharmacy technician to pharmacist ratio to 6:1 provided half the technicians are certified.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.

NACDS participated in a meeting of the Board of Pharmacy’s Technician Task Force which is exploring expanding the current pharmacy technician-to-pharmacist ratio from 3:1 up to 6:1, if four of the technicians are certified.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.

The Board of Pharmacy has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to expand K-TRACS, the state’s prescription drug monitoring program. The Board of Pharmacy will use the money to develop a public awareness campaign for K-TRACS, to conduct an audit of K-TRACS records and to hire a special investigator who will use K-TRACS data to identify suspicious and harmful prescribing patterns.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.

The Department of Health and Environment and Medicaid announced the selection of three managed care organizations that will serve the Medicaid program, known as KanCare. The companies include Sunflower State Health Plan, UnitedHealthcare of the Midwest Inc. and Aetna Better Health of Kansas, Inc.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.

Gov. Jeff Colyer (R) signed into law SB 351, the Kansas Pharmacy Patients Fair Practices Act. The new law states that a pharmacy or pharmacist shall have the right to cost transparency and pricing transparency, and that a pharmacist may discuss lower-cost prescription alternatives with a consumer.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Sandra Guckian at 703-774-4801.