Massachusetts: NCPA submitted a letter of support for S 2567, a bill that establishes a statewide protocol for pharmacists to test or screen and initiate treatment for qualified health conditions. The bill allows pharmacies to obtain CLIA waivers to expand on the types of health screening tests. Approval of the legislation allows pharmacists to administer, process, read and report the results, and treat conditions to include but not limited to influenza, COVID-19, and HIV. HIV would include PEP and PrEP therapies.
Maryland: NCPA submitted written testimony and spoke in front of the Maryland House of Delegates’ Health & Government Operations Committee for HB229. This bill alters the the definition of “maintenance injectable medication” to include medications that are administered by injection and treats sexually transmitted infections and to allow those medications to be administered by a pharmacist. NCPA State Government Affairs Manager Belawoe Akwakoku spoke in support of the bill stating that the legislation will expand access to thousands of Marylanders who would otherwise forgo treatment.
Also, NCPA submitted written testimony and spoke through teleconference to the Maryland Senate Environmental, Health and Education Committee in favor of Senate Bill 355 which would authorize pharmacists to prescribe and dispense up to a 30-day supply of “preexposure prophylaxis” or a complete course of “postexposure prophylaxis” to patients outside of a therapy management contract. The legislation includes a training program adopted by the Maryland Board of Pharmacy that will address counseling unique populations, recommending appropriate vaccinations, and referring the patient to necessary resources and providers.
Nebraska: NCPA, along with the National Association of State Pharmacy Associations and the American Pharmacists Association, sent a letter to the Nebraska Legislature’s Health Human Services Committee to support LB812, which would authorize pharmacy technicians to administer vaccines under a pharmacist’s supervision. Nebraska pharmacy technicians have been administering vaccines since October 2020 when the HHS issued guidance to allow it under the COVID-19 PREP Act declaration. This bill will keep these new authorities in place as the permissions granted under the declaration expire in 2024.
Missouri: NCPA and NASPA submitted written testimony to the Missouri House of Representatives in support of House Bill 2452 which allows pharmacists to administer FDA-approved and ACIP-recommended vaccines to individuals 7 years and older, continuing authority granted under the COVID-19 PREP Act declaration. This legislation includes authorizing medication ordering and administration by pharmacists in state-declared public emergencies and to provide medication therapy services after obtaining a certificate of medication therapeutic plan authority.
