2023 Legislative Update Halfway Point
Legislative Update Halfway Point
We have reached the halfway point in the 2023 legislative session with Crossover inching up on us in a couple of weeks. There are still hundreds of bills trying to make their way to the hopper including ours, so we still don’t have a bill number yet. Just to update all members, we decided to change course and not pursue the birth control prescribing issue. Prescription adaptation is still on the agenda, and we replaced birth control with testing. More on that once the bill gets introduced.
Here are some of the bills that we are following…
HB416 – Pharmacies; authorize qualified pharmacy technicians to administer certain vaccines
Yesterday, the tech vaccine bill was introduced. HB 416 will allow techs to give any COVID-19 vaccine and any ACIP vaccine for patients 18 years of age and up. Publix is behind this bill, and we will support their efforts to get this passed.
HB343 – Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Patients Act; enact
Chairman Mark Newton is bringing back a bill he had last year that was one of many, like ours, that died in the Senate. HB 343 will require PBMs to calculate defined cost sharing for insureds at the point of sale.
GPhA is supporting this legislation as well. Chairman Cooper is carrying this bill which would require health insurance companies to cover comprehensive biomarker testing which can help pinpoint the type of cancer and exact treatment after being diagnosed. This type of blood and tissue testing can eliminate a lot of the “let’s try this treatment/medicine” which can waste precious time during a cancer diagnosis. It has already passed through the House with only 2 no votes.
This bill will require the Department of Community Health to include continuous glucose monitors as a pharmacy benefit for Medicaid recipients.
This bill looks to reign in “white bagging” practices and is sponsored by Representative David Knight.
HB332 – Controlled substances; Schedules I. IV, and V; provide certain provisions
This is the yearly drug update bill sponsored by Chairman Parrish and Chairman Stephens.
HB181 – Controlled Substances; mitragynine and hydroxymitragynine are Schedule I; provide
Representative Rick Townsend reached out to GPhA regarding HB 181 and asked if we would support his bill to ban “kratom” due to the recent deaths of children and young adults. The bill was heard in front of the Judiciary Non-Civil committee on Monday with many testifying in support or in opposition of the legislation. A few of the committee members thought a ban might be a little harsh but after hearing the grieving parents that lost children from kratom, ideas about better product labeling and testing were discussed. After almost 5 hours, the bill was tabled with several committee members agreeing to work on the bill with the sponsors.
This bill will allow the spouses of firefighters, healthcare providers, and law enforcement officers who relocate to Georgia to get their professional license within 90 days of date of receipt of an application as long as previous license was in good standing and not the subject of an investigation.
– Melissa Reybold, VP of Policy
