The 81st Legislative Session is over and now RAN will be following these new laws through the regulatory process. This process will involve the rule making for implementation of the laws. The following healthcare bills are the ones that we followed through the legislature and now we will be present for the next step.
Assembly Bill 177 requires a pharmacy to provide directions for dosage in languages other than English. This new law will need to go through the Board of Pharmacy for regulatory guidance for the pharmacist and pharmacies to understand the intent of this bill. This will ultimately be a large undertaking for the pharmacies as it will require a change in the computer systems and to enlist third party vendors to do the translations for the different languages, all at a great expense to the business. This bill was modeled originally after the Oregon law which has not even been able to be implemented almost three years later after becoming law in that state. Fortunately, a pharmacist who follows the new rules will not be held responsible for these third-party translations and will not be required to verify the translation. This bill will not become law until July 2022, giving pharmacies time to hire these vendors and change the computer programs in their system.
Assembly Bill 178 simply codifies the emergency directives in place during the COVID pandemic requiring the insurances to pay for multiple refills during times of emergency. With this law in place, the Board of Pharmacy will now allow this practice if the governor executes a state of emergency in Nevada. The board will also be writing regulations for this new law, and we will be following this as it moves forward.
Senate Bill 190 authorizes a pharmacist to dispense self-administered hormonal contraceptives without a prescription. The State Board of Pharmacy will be drafting the protocols for this law. It also requires Medicaid and health insurers to provide benefits to the patient and the pharmacy for the dispensing of this medication. Nevada legislators now are seeing the value the pharmacist brings to patients in our state.
Senate Bill 229 is a new law that will allow a pharmacist to work with a physician to collaboratively treat patients to help manage conditions like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, congestive heart failure and other healthcare conditions. This law will also be subject to regulations from the State Board of Pharmacy. This bill was signed into law by Governor Sisolak on June 2, 2021, for rulemaking. This will allow the board to work on regulations as the effective date is October 1, 2021.
Senate Bill 325 expands a pharmacist ability to provide enhanced access for essential medicines and clinical care for HIV patients in Nevada. They will now be able to provide expanded, timely, and convenient access to HIV testing and prevention through increasing access to and use of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). The bill also requires health insurance providers to compensate the pharmacy, as a healthcare provider, for these services. This bill was signed into law by Governor Sisolak on June 6, 2021. This will also go before the State Board of Pharmacy for rulemaking and is effective October 1, 2021.
This is just a short summary of the healthcare bills for the 81st session. RAN will be attending all the regulatory meetings as the rule making moves forward. We will also be sending information to members for feedback during this process. If members have any questions or concerns regarding these regulations, they may always contact me at lizm@rannv.org or on my cell phone at 775-720-2528.