CMS Issues Rules for Pharmacists to Provide COVID-19 Testing
This week, CMS announced an interim final rule (IFC) with comment period, stating that Medicare will cover certain COVID-19 tests performed by pharmacists if they are enrolled in Medicare as a laboratory, in accordance with scope of practice and state laws. NCPA, along with the pharmacy industry, successfully advocated that CMS issue additional guidance regarding implementation of the HHS Pharmacist Testing Guidance clarifying access and payment for these tests under Medicare and Medicaid. NCPA also successfully advocated that the Administration use pharmacists to provide COVID-19 tests and testing site access for COVID-19. NCPA will continue to analyze the provisions of this IFC and release a member summary in the near future.
Large Bipartisan Support for Permanently Addressing
Pharmacy DIR Fees
A bipartisan contingent of 114 House members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed on to a letter to Congressional leadership asking to include language permanently prohibiting pharmacy DIR fees in future coronavirus relief packages. The bipartisan letter was led by Reps. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), John Rose (R-Tenn.) and Vicente Gonzalez (D-Texas) and was the largest total ever on a Congressional DIR letter, and NCPA supported the effort through a vigorous grassroots campaign. Thank you to all who responded to our call to action. In total 3,320 letters were sent to 407 House offices and this response was instrumental in garnering such support.
NCPA Helps Patients Fight Back
Against PBM Abuses with Fight4Rx
NCPA has launched Fight4Rx, a digital and social media platform to speak directly to patients in laymen’s terms about how the PBMs increase their medication costs. The site also provides an outlet for them to fight back by engaging Congress and the administration. Through Fight4Rx social media posts on Facebook and Twitter, patients will learn how Congress can act to rein in PBMs to reduce their drug costs and ensure they retain access to the pharmacy providers they depend on during this pandemic. NCPA has created a toolkit to help pharmacies engage patients in this effort, and it’s simple for them to take action. All they have to do is text Fight4Rx to 52886.
NCPA Insists Community Pharmacists Be Included
in White House Testing Proposal
This week, NCPA responded to the Trump administration's plan to enlist pharmacies as COVID-19 testing centers insisting the plan must include independent, locally owned pharmacies, otherwise millions of Americans will be left out. One out of five ZIP codes in the United States don't have a big chain drug store and are served only by independent pharmacies. NCPA previously sent a letter to Vice President Mike Pence, who heads the White House COVID-19 task force, making multiple recommendations on how neighborhood pharmacies can expand their duty on the front lines of the pandemic. One of them is to make tests available to local pharmacists as soon as possible.
States Move to Align with HHS Testing Guidance
As the federal government strives to expand testing across the country, many state governments have moved to align with the HHS guidance to remove unnecessary restrictions via executive orders, waivers, or rules allowing pharmacists to order and administer COVID-19 testing. These states include Alabama, Alaska, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. In the case of New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) specifically empowered independent community pharmacies to serve as COVID-19 collection centers.
Other states allow CLIA-waived testing, including tests for COVID-19 but have not put out official statements relating such. You can find our tracking document State Response to HHS Guidance on COVID-19 Testing on NCPA's COVID-19 webpage under the State and Local Resources section.
FDA Issues Flexibility under DSCSA in Response to COVID-19
On Thursday, the FDA issued guidance highlighting flexibility under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) for trading partners responding to the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). During the PHE, certain DSCSA product tracing, product identification, and wholesale distribution requirements do not apply to the emergency distribution of prescription drugs issued an emergency use authorization. Therefore, pharmacies engaged in dispenser-to-dispenser transfers of products that are needed as a result of COVID-19, regardless of whether there is a specific patient need, are not required to comply with the product tracing and product identification requirements that are triggered by a “transaction” during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Pharmacy is the Centerpiece in Pandemic Response
This week, NCPA sent a letter along with the American Pharmacists Association, National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The letter expressed appreciation for the recognition of pharmacy’s critical role in pandemic response, and called for a broader dialogue between CDC and the pharmacy community in the next phase of the pandemic response, which is initiating treatment and administering COVID-19 vaccines when FDA-authorized and commercially available.
Senators Propose Immunity Registry
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) recently led a letter with 17 senators to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with a proposal for the development of an immunity registry that could be useful in reopening the economy. This bipartisan proposal would utilize the existing immunization information systems, or vaccine registries, to track the spread of COVID-19 within defined populations and other groups who may share similar levels of exposure, geography and risk factors to determine who may and may not be immune. NCPA will continue to work with Cassidy and his staff as the proposal develops.
New NCPA Branding Campaign Touts Pharmacists
as Your Neighbor and Medication Expert
NCPA has launched a campaign to increase awareness of the role members play in their communities as neighbors and as medication experts. A series of 30-second ads will run over the next 60 days. Titled "Your Neighbor," the ads were designed to reinforce that independent pharmacists are always there for you, are trusted medication experts who'll take the time to guide you to the best health outcome, know your name and treat you as a friend, and your neighbor who cares about the community. Here's a sample ad.
CMS Releases 2019 DIR Reporting Requirements
CMS released its annual Final DIR Reporting Requirements Memo for contract year (CY) 2019. The final pharmacy DIR reporting requirements for CY 2019 are the same as those for CY 2018. Pharmacy DIR fees must continue to be reported in columns #8, #8C, #9, and #9C at the same level of granularity as CY 2018.
Massachusetts Medicaid Will Reimburse Pharmacies
for Home Delivery Services
To promote social distancing, MassHealth will make a payment adjustment of up to $8.00 to the professional dispensing fee when medications are delivered to a MassHealth member’s home. More information on how to bill for these services can be found here.
North Carolina Medicaid Will Reimburse Pharmacies
for Home Delivery Services
North Carolina announced the state will make a payment adjustment to the professional dispensing fee when medications are mailed ($1.50) or hand-delivered ($3.00) to a Medicaid beneficiary’s home. More information can be found here.
NCPA State Legislative Activity Update
NCPA tracks state legislation related to our top three state priorities: Medicaid reform, scope of practice and compensation for services, and PBM reform and regulation. Click each issue for a report of bills that have been introduced so far this session specifically dealing with these three issue areas. You can access the individual bill language and basic information on the bill by clicking on the bill numbers in the attached report. Bills that have moved this week are listed at the top in the “Recently Updated” section.
NCPA’s Advocacy Center Update provides a weekly detailed summary of recent and breaking legislative, regulatory, and state developments impacting independent community pharmacy and NCPA’s efforts to affect policies benefitting its membership and the industry. The weekly update is distributed to NCPA leadership, steering committees, allied organizations/stakeholders and major contributors to the NCPA LDF and PAC.