North Carolina Association of Pharmacists Advancing Pharmacy. Improving Health.
Legislative and Policy Update November 18, 2021 What’s Happening at the General Assembly? As reported in our last update, NCAP has had a very successful legislative session. In this issue we will recap that success. We also will bring you up to speed on what has been happening in the General Assembly, since our last update. But first we have an important request to make of our members regarding our advocacy agenda for the coming year.
Planning for 2022: NCAP Seeks Your Input NCAP leadership is beginning the process of determining our legislative agenda for 2022. We need your input! Please provide us with your thoughts on what issues you believe should be a part of our 2022 legislative agenda, by sending an email to Tony Solari, NCAP Lobbyist at solarigovernmentsolutions@gmail.com. Your input will be included in our recommendations to the Advocacy Committee and the NCAP Board of Directors.
In the General Assembly
State Budget and Redistricting Have Been the Focus of Late for the General Assembly Since our last update, the General Assembly has been focused almost exclusively on trying to enact a state budget and on redrawing electoral district maps. It took some time for the House and Senate to agree on a budget. Governor Cooper and legislative leadership then worked to negotiate and work out their differences in the budget. Earlier this week the Governor announced his intent to sign the budget. It is anticipated the Governor will sign the budget tomorrow.
Earlier this month the legislators completed their work, approving new legislative and congressional election maps. This is the General Assembly’s responsibility following a census year. Check out the 2021 Redistricting Maps for US Congress, NC Senate, and NC House. The maps are controversial, as they favor Republicans. Lawsuits have been filed and we are likely to see legal challenges over the coming months, even years.
Our 2021 Legislative Agenda: Current Status We reported earlier that an appropriation of approximately 9 million had been included in the House budget for the purpose of reimbursing pharmacies who spent money on refrigeration units to store COVID vaccines. We have heard that this appropriation did NOT make it into the final budget proposal. We have not been able to determine with certainty why this appropriation was cut, but was likely due to overall negotiations since the appropriation, in the beginning, was only in the House version of the budget. This was due in large part to the work of Rep. Wayne Sasser, and we appreciate all of his efforts to help pharmacists and pharmacies. Below is a recap of the bills we were successful in getting enacted and an update on the “medical cannabis” bill. Two bills we were not able to get done were our “Payment Parity” legislation, and our “Collaborative Practice” bill. More on our future plans for those proposals in our next update. Senate 257 Medication Cost Transparency Act In what has been a lengthy battle, we were successful in getting our “PBM” bill passed. The bill, which was in “conference” between House and Senate. The “conference report,” a compromise document between the Senate and House versions was given final approval by both bodies on Thursday afternoon, September 9th. The bill was signed into law by the Governor on September 20th https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/Senate/PDF/S257v6.pdf
This legislation requires PBM’s to be licensed and gives the insurance commissioner the ability to administer fines for many of the practices that have harmed the practice of pharmacy and the welfare of our patients. The bill will help patients to use pharmacies of their choice and save millions of dollars in drug costs, while enhancing the competitiveness of the marketplace. NCAP will be working with the Commissioner of Insurance to work on rules and regulations that will reign in PBM abuses and provide pharmacists with an avenue for complaint and a redress of grievances. Current status: Signed into law. Session Law 2021-161 House 96 “Allow Pharmacists to Administer Injectable Drugs” And as noted in previous issues, this bill is actually a dual win for us. The bill is a combination of H 96 and Senate 575 “Pharmacists Improve Public Health Needs.” NCAP worked diligently with our legislative supporters to get this bill done. 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. https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2021/Bills/House/PDF/H96v6.pdf Your NCAP along with the Board of Pharmacy are in the process of writing the protocols and rules required in the legislation. Current Status: Signed into Law Session Law 2021-110
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 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 the substance should be treated like any other drug or medication. This means strict quality controls on the manufacture of the drug, a doctor’s recommendation for its use for a specific medical condition and, importantly, a key role for pharmacists in the dispensing of the drug. The bill has made progress through the Senate, but its future remains uncertain. We are working to ensure that pharmacists will play a key role in the dispensing of the drug. There are a lot of interested parties weighing in on this legislation. Not all of them are aligned with our perspective. Keep 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, Insurance and Health committees and is now in Senate Rules. It has not been heard by the whole Senate, and we are not sure if that will happen this fall or in the spring.
Let’s Be Thankful, Consider Giving to a Cause that Can Help Bring About Important Change for Pharmacy! Look we’ve had some wonderful success this year, but there’s so much that we still need to do. This session, two of our most important bills were just pushed aside because of the opposition. There are 12,000+ pharmacists in North Carolina. What if every pharmacist in NC committed to give just $5 / month: 1) it’s an amount that you as an individual would never miss, but 2) collectively, it would raise nearly ¾ of a million dollars, which is serious money that can open doors for pharmacy in the halls of the legislative building. Giving is easy. Please make a donation 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.