The Kentucky Pharmacists Association (KPhA) is seeking Kentucky-licensed pharmacists to serve on the newly formed Board of Pharmacy Advisory Council. KPhA is responsible for appointing five of the nine pharmacist members on the council as outlined below: 

• Two pharmacists appointed by the Kentucky Pharmacists Association; 
• One pharmacist who practices or specializes primarily in a mail-order pharmacy appointed by the Kentucky Pharmacists Association; 
• One pharmacist who practices or specializes primarily in a veterinary pharmacist appointed by the Kentucky Pharmacists Association 
• One pharmacist who practices in a specialized pharmacy that solely or mostly provides medication to persons living with serious health conditions requiring complex therapies, appointed by the Kentucky Pharmacists Association. 

Click here for further information or to apply. 

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) has published a COVID Vaccine and Testing FAQ to assist pharmacies specific to the Medicaid Unwinding. It clarifies CHFS’ interpretation of pharmacist authority to provide COVID vaccines and testing post-May 11 and the expiration of the PREP Act. https://www.nacds.org/ceo/2023/0512/PHE-Unwinding-COVID-FAQ.pdf 

Also in Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed HB 349, sponsored by pharmacist Rep. Danny Bentley (R). The law expands expedited partner therapy for the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) to include more diseases. The bill also permits the retail sale of HIV self-administered testing kits.  

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.

The Department for Public Health recently updated the Yellow Fever Vaccination Center Application to allow pharmacists to apply to participate. Further detail can be found on the Office of Epidemiology webpage.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.

Pharmacies can now bill Medicaid for vaccines administered to children enrolled in the Medicaid program, regardless of the pharmacy’s participation in the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program. The change is a result of a rule recently adopted and effective as of March 9, 2023. The rule revised the VFC program regulatory requirements by deleting the language in Section 2 of 907 KAR 1:680 that had previously expressly prohibited Medicaid from “making] payment to a provider for the cost of a vaccine available through the Vaccines for Children Program.” Please reference the As Amended Proposed Rule to see the changes as engrossed in the FInal Rule. 

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.

SB 37 was amended in the Senate reforms the Board of Pharmacy Advisory Council to add seats for mail order, specialty, hospital, veterinary, and independent pharmacists. Subsequently, the bill was reported by the House Health Services Committee and is expected to pass the House as currently drafted. The bill began as a piece of legislation that would have re-vamped the Board of Pharmacy composition with dedicated seats for different practice settings, including PBMs and mail order. However, an agreement was reached with the sponsor to instead change the composition of the Advisory Council. The General Assembly is set to adjourn at the end of this week.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.

The Board of Pharmacy held a “special called” meeting on January 4 where they withdrew a new regulation and proposed rule amendments regarding out-of-state pharmacies. The rules would have created a new non-resident pharmacist license requirement for out-of-state pharmacists and stricter requirements for an out-of-state pharmacy to acquire a non-resident pharmacy permit. At the meeting, it was stated that the withdrawal was due to the voluminous number of public comments they received.  

Following this, two Senate bills were introduced last week: 

• SB 36 would reorganize the Board of Pharmacy to assign seats to different practice settings and make appointments subject to Senate confirmation. 
• SB 37 would prohibit an out-of-state pharmacy permit holder from being required to have their pharmacists licensed, except for the Pharmacist in Charge (PIC). 

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.

The Kentucky Pharmacy Education & Research Foundation (KPERF), the Kentucky Pharmacists Association’s tax-exempt charitable foundation, recently announced a funding opportunity for pharmacist-led non-invasive colorectal cancer (CRC) screening for which they are seeking pharmacy applicants. They will choose six pharmacies based on their readiness, the expectation that they can see ten patients per month, their geographical location in Kentucky and the needs of their community. As a reminder, in 2021, the Board of Pharmacy approved a colorectal cancer screening protocol allowing pharmacists to initiate the dispensing of noninvasive stool-based CRC screening patients aged 45-85 years at average risk for colorectal cancer. For more information on this protocol and all pharmacy protocols approved in the state, click here.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.

Magellan published a provider notice outlining September Preferred Drug List changes in Medicaid.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.

Patients and pharmacies in the Commonwealth took a giant leap forward this week when Anthem announced they will be enrolling pharmacists as network providers. The move is a result of the enactment of a law that provides for pharmacy payment parity; HB 48 of 2021 required Kentucky health plans to reimburse pharmacists for services within a pharmacist’s scope of practice that are otherwise covered by the plan, if provided by another healthcare provider. Coupled with a pharmacist’s current authority to provide more than a dozen clinical services under Board of Pharmacy Protocols, Anthem members will have widespread convenient access to treatment at pharmacies for ailments such as flu, strep and tobacco cessation. Pharmacies interested in enrolling in the network should contact kyprovidercontracting@anthem.com. For more information, please see the Kentucky Pharmacists Association’s (KPhA’s) latest news release. NACDS applauds KPhA for its work with Anthem and its leadership in our joint support for HB 48.

Also in Kentucky, Medicaid has proposed a rule that may make it easier for pharmacies to provide vaccine services to kids with Medicaid coverage. The rule change eliminates the requirement to use Vaccines for Children (VFC) stock and strikes current language that states Medicaid will not reimburse for the cost of any vaccine if already available through the VFC program. NACDS interprets this to mean that pharmacies do not have to be enrolled in VFC to immunize and be reimbursed for Medicaid-covered kids. NACDS is seeking member feedback to determine whether this change would be significant to your vaccination efforts. Please review this rule and send Jill McCormack your comments by November 18.

For more information, contact NACDS’ Jill McCormack at 717-592-8977.