Ohio Society of Health-System PharmacY
Legislation That OSHP Is Advocating For / Against
List of bills/policies/initiatives listed below:
HB 218 / HB 451 / HB 122 / National Test & Treat Initiative
House Bill 218 proposes that no school, or employer may require any vaccine/drug product that is not fully approved by the FDA, if a vaccine/other drug product has received full FDA approval, the bill establishes that natural immunity as well as reasons of personal conscience would exempt the student or employee from that requirement. The bill additionally prohibits any public or private entity to require proof of vaccination against COVID-19 for any reason and permits a court to waive attorney’s fees to that individual to support for the prohibition.
HB 218 was passed by the Ohio House on 11/18/21, it was later introduced in the Senate and referred to the General Government Budget Committee on 11/30/21. OSHP opposes HB218 and has worked with the council of colleges of pharmacy and other organizations to express our written opposition to the General Government Budget Committee.
House Bill 218 - Status | The Ohio Legislature
House Bill 451 prohibits health benefit plans from requiring that a physician-administered medication be dispensed by an affiliated pharmacy and prohibits them from limiting coverage or altering the cost-sharing policy for the drugs in question if dispensed in a setting other than a pharmacy.
HB 451 was introduced to the Ohio house and referred to the Insurance committee on 10/13/21. OSHP supports HB451. OSHP members are encouraged to submit examples of how the practice of “white-bagging” has impacted you and your ability to care for your patients and contact their representatives.
For the above, please submit these examples to legal@ohioshp.org
House Bill 451 - Status | The Ohio Legislature
House Bill 122 was officially signed into law on January 10, 2022. It made temporary telehealth flexibilities granted in Ohio under the COVID-19 public health emergency permanent. The timely passage of House Bill 122 ensured our healthcare professionals and patients could utilize telehealth seamlessly as the law went into effect before the temporary telehealth flexibilities expire on March 31, 2022. These changes will benefit patients and providers alike by increasing access to care and decreasing cost. We are excited to this piece of legislation come to fruition!
HB122 in summary:
- Expands the list of eligible providers, permitting psychologists, pharmacists, speech and hearing therapists, physical therapists, counselors and social workers, dietitians, optometrists, chiropractors and several other health care specialties to utilize telehealth services
- Establishes that the same standard of care applies to telehealth and in-person services
- Allows the use of telehealth for initial visits with a patient, with limited exceptions
- Allows the use of use of both one- and two-way communication to provide telehealth services
- Requires Medicaid and private insurance to cover those telehealth services
National Test & Treat Initiative:
The American Medical Association (AMA) recently released a statement regarding the “test to treat” initiative that was announced in the “National Covid-19 Preparedness Plan” during President Biden’s State of the Union Address. The statement of the AMA, alongside the initiative would not allow pharmacists to prescribe these covid-19 oral antivirals, despite testing the patients to determine if they should receive them. This responsibility would fall to another healthcare provider that is located at the site of that pharmacy. (Such as the non-pharmacist provider at a minute clinic)
As such, this limitation would drastically limit the accessibility of these covid-19 oral antivirals and is in part based upon the AMA’s assertion that pharmacists (and pharmacy-based clinics) would not be able to manage these treatments because of their complexity. “Paxlovid has 6 pages of drug interactions… Pharmacy based clinics typically treat simple illnesses such as strep throat… Leaving prescribing decisions this complex in the hands of people without knowledge of a patient’s medical history is dangerous in practice and precedent. We urge patients who test positive for COVID-19 to contact their physician to discuss treatment options. COVID-19 is not strep throat—it is a complicated disease that has killed nearly 1 million people in the United States.”
ASHP has released a joint letter, alongside other national organizations such as AACP, NABP, NCPA, SIDP, CPNP, ACCP, and APhA. You can read the letter here.
If you are interested in providing additional comments to the white house regarding this initiative and the role that pharmacists can and should have, you can contact them via phone, letter, or email.