The Department of Health briefed pharmacy stakeholders, sharing recent data by age group on COVID vaccinations administered.
Also in Washington, the first of two Pharmacy Legislative Days at the Capitol that NACDS sponsored was held last week and was a huge success. Pharmacists and students were briefed on the priority issues before meeting with legislators.
Also in Washington, changes to the long-acting insulin class on the Preferred Drug List (PDL) go into effect on April 1.
Also in Washington, HB 2116, sponsored by pharmacist legislator Rep. My-Linh Thai (D), was heard in the House Committee on Health Care and Wellness last week and is now dead because it failed to be voted out of the policy committee before the January 31 deadline. This bill would have expanded prescriptive authority for pharmacists.
Also in Washington, the state’s Health and Human Services Enterprise Coalition, a group of Washington state health and social service agencies, published an annual update to its Washington State Action Plan for Removing Barriers to Health and Human Services.
Also in Washington, Apple Health (Medicaid) updated several client booklets.
Finally in Washington, effective February 1, the Health Care Authority, Apple Health Fee-For-Service (FFS) is increasing the morphine milligram equivalent (MME) conversion factors used to determine total daily MME under the Apple Health Opioid Policy to the following:
- Hydromorphone MME conversion factor of 5 (increased from 4)
- Tramadol MME conversion factor of 0.2 (increased from 0.1)
The Apple Health MME calculator conversion factors are based on the Washington State Agency Medical Directors’ (AMDG) and CDC guidelines for prescribing opioids for pain.
Opioids are limited to 120 MMEs per day. Pharmacy claims for opioids will reject if a single prescription or a combination of prescriptions exceed the MME limit. If a pharmacy claim rejects for exceeding the MME limit, request a prior authorization.
For more information, contact NACDS’ Mary Staples at 817-442-1155.