Alliance News

Pharmacists File Suit to Delay the Implementation of Medicaid Managed Care

Specific Managed Care Roll-out Questions to HHSC Answered

Managed Care Organizations & Pharmacy Benefit Managers by Service Area


2011 Texas Legislative Session Wrap-up

This session was one of the toughest on record for pharmacy, but we still had numerous successes.  We tracked 34 bills that would have either been beneficial or harmful to the pharmacy profession.

We successfully worked to pass a number of important bills for pharmacy.  

HB 2292 by Representatives Hunter & Hopson (Sponsor:  Senator Van de Putte)

• Requires HMOs, PPOs, or PBMs to pay pharmacies all affirmative adjudicated electronically submitted pharmacy claims within 18 days from the date of adjudication of a claim through ETF. Paper claims would have to be paid within 21 days.  Additionally, HMOs, PPOs, and their PBMs cannot extrapolate when auditing claims.  

SB 594 by Senator Van de Putte (Sponsor:  Representative Zerwas)

• Allows for Schedule II drugs to be prescribed via an electronic prescription

• Conforms Texas law to federal provisions

SB 1756 by Senator Uresti

• Senator Uresti authored a couple of pieces of legislation that would have protected brand product market share from generic competition on certain opioid analgesic drugs.  We were successful in defeating these bills.

• Would have protected tamper resistant formulations before the FDA makes a determination that the product is safer to a patient than an equivalent drug without the technology.

HB 528 by Representative Solomons (Sponsor:  Senator Van de Putte)

• During the interim and the regular legislative session, we worked closely with Chairman Solomons, his staff, and the staff of TDI-WCD to develop language that would correct an unintended consequence that was passed into law in 2005 in HB 7 by Solomons.  

• While HB 528 did not have a direct affect on pharmacy, if it had not passed our pharmacists would have suffered a very drastic cut in pharmacy reimbursement for workers’ compensation prescriptions.

• We also were able to put in additional pharmacy protections in the Labor code in this bill.

• Since its passage, we have worked with the TDI-DWC staff to ensure that the fee schedule guidelines remain the same so that no cuts are made in reimbursement.

Scope of Practice Bills

• There were a number of bills that would have affected pharmacy scope of practice. Four bills were filed that would have allowed Advanced Nurse Practitioners to dispense drugs and three bills that would allowed for physicians to dispense.  Although they moved early and were resurrected a number of times during the regular and special sessions, we were successful in killing these bills numerous times.

AIP-Texas Members Continue to Make their Voices Heard

Get Reimbursed for MTM Services for your Texas Medicaid Diabetic Patients

AIP-Texas and Texas Pharmacy Association Enter into an Affiliation Agreement

Learn How You Can Affect Change at TPA's Spring Symposium March 22-24, 2012

Register now for the 2012 Daryl Spence PharmPAC Golf Classic