KPhA Weekly Pharmacist Legislative Update
Kentucky Legislative Update
March 9,2012
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Grassroots activities continue

Be sure to continue your contacts with your legislators regarding bills that will directly impact you as a pharmacist and thank them for their assistance so far in the legislative session. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for updates.

 

Legislative Areas of Focus for KPhA include the following bills, which are all pending action in the Senate:

  • HB 349 (Pharmacy Audit) (HEARING SCHEDULED IN COMMITTEE WEDNESDAY)
  • HB 262 (Co-Payment for Medicaid Managed Care organizations) (HEARING SCHEDULED IN COMMITTEE WEDNESDAY)
  • SB 125 (MAC Pricing)
  • HB 403 (Theraputic Shoe Fitting)

See below for more information on these bills and contact your Senator to ask for his/her support.

 

Legislative Update

With only 16 legislative days remaining, the pace of activity in the General Assembly is accelerating. The House passed the budget bill on Wednesday and the House gave its approval to a comprehensive anti-prescription drug abuse proposal. Committees were active this week and a number of pharmacy-related measures were acted upon in both the House and Senate.

 

House Passes Anti- Prescription Drug Abuse Measure

Senate Judiciary Committee takes action on SB 2

On Thursday, the House passed a revised version of HB 4, legislation sponsored by House Speaker Greg Stumbo (D-Prestonsburg). The bill is a comprehensive proposal to address the problem of prescription drug abuse. The measure passed the House by a vote of 81-7.

 

The bill requires pain clinics to be owned by physicians or advanced practice registered nurses. The bill also makes significant changes to the state's electronic prescription reporting system (KASPER). Among the changes is a provision that moves the administration of KASPER from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to the Office of Attorney General. Stumbo's bill calls for an assessment on prescribers and pharmacists to fund the program. HB 4 also requires prescribers to check KASPER reports before prescribing controlled substances under certain circumstances and requires pharmacists to report KASPER data daily.

 

The House adopted an amendment sponsored by Stumbo before final passage of the bill. The amendment prohibits prescribers from dispensing more than a 48-hour supply of Schedule II and Schedule III drugs. The amendment also made several technical changes to the bill.

 

Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported out a vastly revised version of SB 2, another proposal dealing with prescription drug abuse. Like HB 4, the bill places limitations on the ownership of pain clinics.

 

The amended version of the bill removed two provisions opposed by the pharmacy community. One was a requirement that pharmacists obtain a KASPER report prior to dispensing a controlled substance. The other was a requirement that pharmacists obtain a photo ID from all persons picking up a controlled substance prescription and enter indentifying information into KASPER, if the person was not the person for whom the prescription was written.

 

The revised SB 2 does require pharmacists to report KASPER information daily but the proposal does not impose a fee on providers to support the system. A vote by the full Senate on the measure is expected next week. SB 2 is sponsored by Senator Jimmy Higdon (R-Lebanon).

 

Committee Hearing Set on Pharmacy Audit Bill

Senator Julie Denton (R-Louisville), the chairman of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee has indicated that she will place HB 349, the pharmacy audit bill, on the agenda of the panel's meeting on Wednesday. The bill was transferred from the Appropriations and Revenue Committee to the Health and Welfare Committee on Thursday.

 

The bill, sponsored by Representative Tommy Thompson (D-Owensboro), amends Kentucky's current pharmacy audit law to address continuing problems faced by pharmacists with audits conducted by insurers and pharmacy benefit managers.HB 349 specifies that an auditing entity may not recoup payments because of clerical errors or omissions unless there is evidence of fraud or an actual overpayment has been made. Under the provisions of HB 349, recoupment or overpayments are limited to the actual amount of the overpayment and would not include the dispensing fee. The bill also limits the length of time an auditing entity can require a pharmacy to keep records. HB 349 limits record retention to two years or the period of time required by state or federal law.

 

Another significant provision of HB 349 is the removal of the exemption for managed care organizations (MCOs) serving the Medicaid population. The current law exempted these entities from the auditing restrictions. With the expansion of managed care in the Medicaid late last year, private companies are now responsible for providing benefits to the majority of the Medicaid population.

 

Further Hearing Expected on Copayment Bill

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee is also expected to further discuss HB 262. The bill requires any managed care organization (MCO) serving Medicaid recipients that was not requiring a copayment for drugs as of January 1, 2012 to implement a copayment structure of at least $1 for generics, $2 for preferred name brand drugs and $3 for non-preferred products. The copayment would be retained by the pharmacy in addition to the current reimbursement paid by the MCO. The bill contains emergency clause to the measure making it effective immediately upon the Governor's signature should it pass both the House and the Senate.

 

HB 262 also contains a provision to exempt inter-pharmacy transfers of drugs from the state's drug wholesaling rules. This provision is identical to another bill introduced this session (HB 116).

 

HB 262 was previously approved by the committee but was sent back for further study. Representatives of the MCOs are expected to testify on the measure Wednesday. Changes to the proposal to correct some minor technical issues are expected to be offered in committee.  

 

Committee Adopts Resolution on State Mail Order Drug Policies

The House State Government Committee unanimously approved a resolution asking various state agencies to look at the use of mail order pharmacies in state health benefit plans. HR 198 encourages the Personnel Cabinet, the Kentucky Retirement system and the Kentucky Teachers' Retirement System to evaluate the policies of the mail order pharmacy benefit programs they provide to make sure the policies are compliant with state laws requiring that local pharmacies have the opportunity to participate. The resolution, sponsored by House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover (R-Jamestown), now goes to the House floor for consideration.  

 

Committee Approves E-Prescribing Measure

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved an amended version of SB 144 at its Wednesday meeting. The bill sponsored by Committee Chair Julie Denton (R-Louisville) establishes guidelines for the development of e-prescribing systems. The committee removed language in the bill requiring that e-prescribing systems provide the capability of requesting a prior authorization on the same day the prescription was written. SB 144 now goes to the full Senate for consideration.

 

Revised Drug Disposal Bill on the Move

The House Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Safety Committee gave the nod to an amended version of HB 238 on Thursday. The bill, sponsored by Representative Joni Jenkins (D-Shively), originally required the state Department for Environmental Protection, in conjunction with local governments, to set up a disposal program for unused prescription drugs. The amended version of the bill gives the Department and local governments more flexibility in designing a drug disposal program and eliminates much of the cost concerns with the original bill.

 

Senate Panel Discusses PA Prescribing Bill

The Senate Judiciary Committee discussed but took no action on SB 96 at its meeting on Thursday. The bill sponsored by Senator Tom Buford (R-Nicholasville) allows physicians' assistants to prescribe and dispense controlled substances. As a result of meetings between representatives of the pharmacy community and the PA association, a committee amendment was offered to remove the language authorizing PAs to prescribe drugs. The sponsor and the PA association have agreed to the amendment. With only 16 days left in the session, it is doubtful that SB 96 will have enough time to make it through the General Assembly.

 

Pharmacy Briefs:

  • HB 377, a bill restricting the substitution of "tamper-proof" opioid drugs remains stalled on the House floor. Two floor amendments have been filed to the proposal.
  • Although the bill was on the agenda of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, the panel did not take up HB 401. The bill, called the False Claims Act, allows third party "whistleblowers" to bring fraud actions against businesses that do business with the state. The bill would cover Medicaid providers.

Kentucky Pharmacists Association
1228 US 127 South

Frankfort, KY 40601

502-227-2303

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