NCAP Legislative Update August 23, 2021

North Carolina Association of Pharmacists Advancing Pharmacy. Improving Health.

Legislative and Policy Update August 23, 2021

Success!

House Bill 96 Signed Into Law Governor Cooper signed H96 “Allow Pharmacists to Administer Injectable Drugs” on Friday August 20th.

This bill, actually represents a dual win, as it is a combination bill along with Senate 575 “Pharmacists Improve Public Health Needs.” NCAP worked diligently with our legislative supporters to get this bill passed. It represents a significant expansion of what North Carolina pharmacists will be able to do in support of their patient’s needs. Here is the version of the bill signed by the Governor.

Pharmacists will now be able to provide certain birth control, tobacco cessation, HIV prevention, and other medications via standing orders. Medication administration was expanded to include any selfadministered injectable drug. Read the full bill and all the provisions at https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/House/PDF/H96v6.pdf We MUST thank those who sponsored this legislation and who worked so hard for N.C. pharmacists.

They are:

Primary Sponsors: Sasser; Setzer; White; Adcock (Primary) Cosponsors:Autry; Ball; Belk; Blackwell; Boles; Brisson; Brockman; Butler; Carney; Carter; Clemmons; Dahle; Faircloth; Farkas; Fisher; K.Hall; Hanig; Hawkins; Hunter; Hurley; Insko; John; Kidwell; McNeely; McNeill; Morey; Moss; Riddell; Rogers; K.Smith; Turner; Willingham; Wray Also, extremely instrumental in architecture and passage of this joint bill was Senator Burgin.

Please take a moment to write a short email or note of thanks to these legislators, and especially if one of them is YOUR legislator. It is important for them to hear from us.

Next steps: NCAP has formed a number of different teams to work on draft standing orders to help provide useful information to Dr. Betsey Tilson’s office. It is important for NCAP to remain proactive on this legislation as we move towards the implementation phase.

NCAP has already begun preparing educational programming that pharmacists will need to provide these patient care services. Stay tuned to NCAP for where and when these materials and programming will be available.

More Progress Senate 257: “Medication Cost Transparency Act” Last week this bill, our “PBM” Bill, passed in the House. The bill has passed in both chambers of the General Assembly and is now in “conference.” This is where the differences in the House and Senate versions are worked out.

Much was added to the stripped-down Senate version by House members. The latest version can be found here: https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S257v5.pdf.

Senator Perry, one of our champions introduced Senate Bill 257 the “Medication Cost Transparency Act.” Senators Britt and Johnson joined him as primary sponsors with senators Corbin, Edwards, Lazzara and Lowe as co-sponsors.

Representative Sasser took the lead on this bill on the House side, working in additional provisions viewed as helpful to both patients and pharmacists.

Current status: This bill passed the House by a vote of 101-0 and the Senate by a vote of 45-0. The Senate failed to concur with the House changes, so the bill is in conference. Senate conferees are Perry, Rabon, Britt and deViere. House conferees are Sasser, Bell, Hall, Potts and Adcock.

House Budget Includes $800,000 to Reimburse Pharmacies for Cold Storage Units Section 5.17.(a) of the House budget appropriates $800,000 to establish a grant program for reimbursing licensed pharmacies located in the State for costs incurred to acquire cold storage units necessary to properly store COVID-19 vaccines. NCAP has been named to administer the funds.

Criteria for reimbursement and details to be forthcoming.

S 711 “NC Compassionate Care Act”

Senator Rabon has brought this bill up for consideration. It would legalize the use of cannabis for medical purposes. Pharmacy has a keen interest in this bill and your NCAP has been actively engaged with the bill sponsors from the time it was introduced.

If the purpose is to treat cannabis as a medication, then in our view pharmacists should have a key role in how medical cannabis is used in the care of patients in North Carolina. Our state is looking at strict quality controls on growing and processing, a doctor’s recommendation for its use for a specific medical condition, registration process for patients, as well as key role for pharmacists in the dispensing and clinical use of medical cannabis. The bill has made progress through the Senate, but its future remains uncertain. We are working to ensure that pharmacy and pharmacists are at the table during important discussions. We are advocating that, similar to a number of other states, to do medical cannabis the right way, North Carolina should utilize pharmacists in some capacity to ensure appropriate clinical decision making, dispensing and patient education occur. There are a lot of interested parties weighing in on this legislation. Not all of them are aligned with our perspective. Stay tuned for further updates on this important bill. The latest version of the bill can be found here: https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S711v3.pdf Current status: The bill passed out of the Senate Commerce and Insurance Committee with a unanimous vote. The bill passed out of the Rules committee and Senate Judiciary. Next stop, Senate Health committee. It faces a long series of hearings in the House

Your Role NCAP is working tirelessly to advance legislation that makes a difference for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. What you can do to help: 1. We need our legislative allies to hear from our members. If they don’t know that our members are grateful for their assistance and support, then these legislators are less likely to help us with future needs. PLEASE take some time to thank the legislators hyperlinked in the first section of this newsletter.

2. Talk about what NCAP is doing and how the Association is working to secure wins for our profession.

3. Encourage your pharmacist and technician friends and colleagues to join NCAP. Membership dollars is how we maintain a high functioning and successful state pharmacy association.

4. We’ve had some recent wins, but we still have a lot of work to do, on behalf of pharmacy, in North Carolina. Please give to PILLPAC. Donations provided to PILLPAC are used to support the campaigns of pharmacy friendly legislators. Donating to “PILLPAC” is super easy, and you can choose how much you want to give. Every dollar helps. Just text the word ‘PILLS’ to (704) 396-5553, to receive a link to donate. You can make a one-time donation or set up a monthly contribution.

As always, send your thoughts, input and suggestions to me, Tony Solari at solarigovernmentsolutions@gmail.com