Bill > H1144

This bill aims to address issues related to specialty medications and patient safety. It proposes the following key provisions: 1. It prohibits the Group Insurance Commission, Medicaid, and private insurers from requiring specialty pharmacies to directly dispense medications to patients who must then transport them to a healthcare provider for administration. This is intended to ensure patient safety and proper medication handling. 2. It allows, but does not require, the use of home infusion pharmacies to dispense certain sterile intravenous drugs to patients in their homes or at infusion sites outside of provider offices/clinics. 3. When insurers require specialty pharmacies to distribute medications to provider offices, hospitals, or clinics for administration, the bill sets several requirements, such as advance notice, expedited exceptions, same-day delivery, temperature control, and agreements between specialty pharmacies and providers. 4. The bill also prohibits insurers from requiring certain types of medications, such as those requiring sterile compounding or patient-specific dosing, to be distributed from specialty pharmacies to provider settings. 5. Finally, the bill requires site-neutral payment to healthcare providers who administer medications distributed from specialty pharmacies, to cover the costs of receiving, storing, and disposing of these medications. Overall, this bill aims to balance the benefits of specialty pharmacy services with the need to ensure patient safety and provider flexibility when specialty medications are administered in clinical settings.

Business and Industry, Health and Social Services

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/193/H1144