This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Tamper-resistant prescription pad deadline extended
Pres. Bush has signed the Extender’s Law, which will delay the deadline for requiring tamper-resistant prescription pads for Medicare and Medicaid patients.
The requirement is part of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007, which was signed into law on May 25, 2007. Pres. Bush approved the delayed deadline for the prescription pads Sept. 29.
Requirements for prescriptions
Section 7002(b) of the Troop Readiness Act states that in order for patients to be reimbursed by the federal government for Medicaid and Medicare prescriptions, the written, non-electronic prescriptions must be tamper resistant.
To meet this requirement, a written prescription must contain industry-recognized features designed to prevent three things: unauthorized photocopying, erasure or modification of information written by the prescriber and the use of counterfeit prescription forms.
The act originally stated that at least one of the guidelines must be met by Oct. 1, 2007, and all three were required by the following year. The resulting Extender’s Law delayed the implementation date of the first guideline to April 1, 2008, but kept the ultimate deadline of Oct. 1, 2008, for the execution of all three.
The American Optometric Association, along with other state optometric associations, pharmacy and health care provider groups, voiced its concern. According to Jon Hymes, director of the AOA’s Washington office, the Oct. 1, 2007, deadline would have done more harm than good for the optometrists and patients affected.
“The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the required federal implementation guidelines on Aug. 17, only a few weeks before the deadline,” he said in a statement prepared for PCON. “Based on the government’s flawed timetable and what it would mean for optometrists and patients, confusion over what would qualify as ‘tamper-resistant’ and uncertain supplies of approved pads, the AOA urged Congress to provide the necessary extension. The AOA, along with the leadership and staff of state optometric associations, the pharmacy community and other health care provider groups, quickly joined forces to educate key members of Congress about the provision’s harmful impact on patients and practices.”
When the act does not apply
Prescribers have several options for avoiding the issue altogether. The act applies only to written prescriptions, so if the prescription is communicated to the pharmacy electronically, verbally or by fax, the tamper-resistant pad requirement will not apply. It will also not apply if the prescription is being paid for by a managed care entity. Finally, the most frequent situation, when drugs are provided in certain institutional and clinical facilities, they will not have to be written on tamper-resistant pads unless the patient handles them directly.
For some states, these new requirements will not be a problem. By law, California, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Wyoming already comply with tamper-resistant prescription pad regulations. Idaho already required one tamper-resistant feature in its state law.
For more information:
- Jon Hymes is director of the AOA Washington Office. He can be reached at 1505 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (800) 365-2219; fax: (703) 739-9497; e-mail: jfhymes@aoa.org.
- Access specifics on tamper-resistant prescription pads at the CMS Web site: www.cms.hhs.gov/center/intergovernmental.asp