Provides that residential health care facilities may return and redistribute unused medication

2 Co-sponsors

• Ruth Hassell-Thompson
• Michael H. Ranzenhofer

BILL NUMBER:S1748A

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to return and redistribution of unused medication

Purpose or general idea of bill

To clarify provisions governing the return and redistribution of unused medication provided in certain residential health care facilities, provide for a reasonable fee for the costs of such return and redistribution and to direct the establishment of an electronic method by which a pharmacy can effectuate such returns for Medicaid purposes.

Summary of provisions

Section 1. Amends Section 2803-e (1) of the public health law to further clarify how unused medications must be packaged to be received, restocked and redistributed by a pharmacy; amends subdivision 2 of such section to direct the commissioner of health, in consultation with an advisory committee, to establish a reasonable fee of reimbursement of costs related to the receipt, restocking and redistribution of such medications to the pharmacy; adds a new subdivision 5 to such section to direct the commissioner to establish procedures to assure that any such return of medications, receipt, restocking or redistribution, comply with HIPAA and related electronic submission requirements; adds a new subdivision 6 to such section to establish the advisory committee referred to in subdivision 2. subdivision 7 restricts civil liability of prescription drug manufacturer under certain circumstances.

Justification

In a recent Medicaid update, the Department of Health (DOH) provided guidelines for unused medication in a nursing home setting suggesting that nursing home pharmacy services providers reimburse or credit the nursing home or purchaser of such drug product for the unused medication that is restocked and redispensed, noting that drugs listed on the Medicaid Nursing Home Carve-Out List must be credited back to the Medicaid program. Unfortunately, electronic coding standards required by HIPAA currently contain no codes for issuing a credit to a payor, thus making implementation of such a return credit policy unworkable. This legislation directs DOH to establish procedures to assure an efficient process, including access to the original claim, reversal, adjustment and rebilling activities reflecting the credit. The bill further directs the commissioner of health to establish a fee to cover the costs of processing such returns and credits. "Return" is not simply "dispensing in reverse", requiring several safeguards, manual processes and tracking activities which are costly. An advisory committee is established in the bill to assist the commissioner in determining such fee.

Prior legislative history

2007-08: S.652 Referred to Health 2009-10: S.3500 Referred to Health

Fiscal implications

None to the state.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the 120th day after enactment.