Legislation of interest to the pharmacy community outlined below, with the action taken

• NMPhA and NM Pharmacy Coalition.
• Board of Pharmacy.
• College of Pharmacy.

Legislation for NM Pharmacists Association and the NM Pharmacy Coalition: 

HB 482 – Pharmacy Audit Procedures.
Sponsor: Representative John Heaton. 
Signed by the Governor.

HB 482 adds a new section to NMSA 61-11 The Pharmacy Act. This new section provides for clarifying and codifying the process insurance providers, and other such entities, must comply with whenever auditing a pharmacy. Specifically the new section requires:

• the pharmacy to be given a two-week notice prior to conducting the initial on-site audit.
• an audit involving clinical or professional judgment must be conducted by, or in consultation with, a pharmacist.
• the pharmacy to be able to utilize the records of a hospital or licensed practitioner for the purposes of verifying the pharmacy record for orders or refills for dangerous drugs or narcotics.
• the findings of over or underpayment shall not be a projection based on a formula but must be based on actual documented under or overpayment unless agreed upon by the pharmacy as a settlement.
• the audit be conducted by the entity using the same standards and parameters used on other audits conducted on similarly situated pharmacies.
• the audited pharmacy must be allowed at least 21 days, with reasonable extensions of time permitted, to produce documentation in response to the preliminary audit report.
• limitation on the period covered by the audit (shall not exceed two years unless that time period is limited by contractual agreement or conflicts with state or federal law, from the date the claim was submitted to, or adjudicated by, an entity).
• the preliminary audit report to be delivered to the pharmacy within 120 days after conclusion of an audit, with reasonable extensions of time permitted.
• the final report from the entity to be delivered to the pharmacy within 6 months after receipt of the preliminary audit report or final appeal.
• recoupment of a claim cannot be based on a projection, but must be based on an actual overpayment or underpayment, unless the entity requesting it demonstrates that it used a statistically justifiable method of projection.
• recoupment of disputed funds from a pharmacy which result from an audit - only if the discrepancy exceeds $25,000 can future payments to the pharmacy be suspended pending finalization of the audit.
• entities to limit the time of an audit (after the first 5 days of each month).
• the entity to establish an appeals process for the pharmacy to utilize.
• the entity to provide a final report of an audit to the plan sponsor.

HB 577 – Pharmacists as providers and practitioners. 
Sponsor: Representative Danice Picraux. 
Passed House and Senate. 

This bill is identical to SB 1097 which was signed by the Governor.

HB 638 - Gross Receipts Tax exemption for prescription Oxygen and Oxygen services. 
Sponsor: Representative Ed Sandoval
Amendment for Oxygen providers by Representative John Heaton 
Signed by the Governor.

The tax exemption was originally contained in HB 692 introduced by Representative John Heaton. Representative Heaton amended the exemption into House Bill 638 because it contained various other tax exemptions.

SB 1097 – Pharmacists as providers and practitioners.
Sponsored by Senator Michael Sanchez
Signed by the Governor.

Senate Bill 1097 amends definitions contained within the Insurance Code in the Health Maintenance Organization Law and the Nonprofit Health Care Plan Law. The definition of “basic health services” under the HMO law has been amended to include “services of pharmacist and pharmacist clinicians” under medically necessary services. Definitions of pharmacist and pharmacist clinicians are also added to the HMO law. The Nonprofit Health Care Plan law has been amended to provide definitions for pharmacist and pharmacist clinicians.

Legislaton for NM Board of Pharmacy:

HB 46 – Provided for donation of medications.
Sponsored by Representative John Heaton
died on adjournment.

HB 314 – Warehouse Licensing.
Sponsored by Representative John Heaton
Signed by the Governor.

• This bill changes the maximum fee for a wholesale drug distributor license to $1,000 per year. This amount is currently below the maximum allowed, at $350 per year.
• Permits the Pharmacy Board to conduct criminal background checks for all new licensees and charge the applicant a $75 fee.
• Authorizes the board to require a third-party surety bond, for initial and renewal applicants for licensure as a nonresident pharmacy or wholesale drug distributor (excludes chain warehouses that only service their own pharmacies). The purpose of the bond is to secure payment for administrative or judicial penalties that may be imposed by the board or the state.
• Eliminates requirement that certain amounts of the pharmacy fund must be used for a prescription drug program for persons over the age of 65. This provision was not in force following implementation of the Medicare Part D program, but needed to be cleaned up in the statute.

Legislation for the UNM College of Pharmacy:

HB 105 – UN/NMSU Cooperative Pharmacy Program
Sponsored by Representative Joni Gutierrez
Partial funding is in House Bill 2.

House Bill 105 appropriates money (approximately $400,000) from the general fund to the board of regents of the University of New Mexico for expenditure in fiscal year 2008 to create a cooperative pharmacy program in conjunction with New Mexico State University to enhance accessibility of pharmacy education in southern New Mexico; to reduce the shortage of pharmacists in southern New Mexico; to serve the pharmaceutical care needs of underserved persons in southern New Mexico; and to increase the diversity of the pharmacy profession in southern New Mexico.

HB 206 – Poison Center Salary funding
Sponsored by Representative Janice Arnold-Jones
partial funding is in House Bill 2 Jr.

House Bill 206 appropriates money from the general fund to the board of regents at the University of New Mexico for salary increases for the staff of the poison and drug information center. The funding authorized by the Legislature is approximately $260,000, which is considerably less than the $400,000 request. The reduced funding will impact the ability of the Poison and Drug Information Center to retain and recruit qualified Pharmacists.

HB 550 – COP Isotopes in Medicine program.
Sponsored by Representative Jeannette Wallace
died on adjournment.

House Bill 550 appropriates $3,526.1 thousand from the general fund for expenditures in fiscal year 2008 to 2011 to the board of regents at the University of New Mexico to create the center for isotopes in medicine.

SB 183 same as HB 105.
Sponsored by Senator Mary Kay Papen

SB 882 – same as HB 550.
Sponsored by Senator Linda Lopez

Thanks to some very supportive Legislators and work with industry lobbyists we had a very successful Legislative Session for NM Pharmacy and Pharmacists!

Special Thanks to:

Representative John Heaton

Representative Danice Picraux

Senator Michael Sanchez.

Strong supporters of the College of Pharmacy were:

Representative Joni Gutirrez

Representative Janice Arnold-Jones

New Mexico Legislative Session 2007:

· January 16 Opening day (noon)

· March 17 Session ends (noon)

· April 6 Legislation not acted upon by governor is pocket vetoed

· June 15 Effective date of legislation not carrying an emergency clause or other specified date