Legislature(2011 - 2012)BARNES 124
04/11/2012 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB119 | |
| HB259 | |
| HB266 | |
| SB27 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 119 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 259 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 266 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 27 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 259-PHARMACY AUDITS
3:59:35 PM
CHAIR OLSON announced that the next order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 259, "An Act establishing procedures and
guidelines for auditing pharmacy records; and providing for an
effective date."
CHAIR OLSON removed his objection to the adoption of CSHB 259,
Version E, labeled 27LS0675\E, Martin, 4/9/12, which was left
pending at the April 9, 2012 meeting. There being no further
objection, Version E was before the committee.
4:00:10 PM
CHRISTOPHER CLARK, Staff, Representative Cathy Munoz, Alaska
State Legislature, commended the committee's staff, Konrad
Jackson, for his work on this bill. He referred to page 2, line
6-10 to the language changes related to Scriveners' errors or
written errors. He explained that audits would not be conducted
within 90 days after an audit in which no errors were found. The
definition of error was inserted. He referred to page 2, lines
31 through page 3, line 4, which relates to clerical error. He
referred to page 3, lines 27-30, which indicates this section
does not apply to a criminal investigation or investigation or
audit by a governmental agency, including state Medicaid
programs. He said the sponsor hopes this will lead to a zero
fiscal note. He referred to page 2, lines 28-30, which adds
language to deal with the mail orders, such that an auditor may
not assess a charge-back, recoupment or other penalty against a
pharmacy based solely on the mailed prescription or delivered at
the request of the patient as part of a routine business
practice of a pharmacy. He related his understanding that the
pharmacists will echo the sponsor's sentiments on the work that
has been done.
4:02:22 PM
BARRY CHRISTENSEN, Pharmacist, Island Pharmacy, Inc.; Co-Chair,
Legislative Committee, Alaska Pharmacists Association (AkPhA),
said he concurs with Mr. Clark and appreciates the work done on
the bill. He offered his belief that the bill is a good
compromise and contains language that will help pharmacists stay
focused on their main tasks on not fret about the issues related
to audits. He acknowledged that Version E does not contain
everything the pharmacists sought, but reiterated that Version E
is a good compromise. He concluded that he appreciates the
committee's work.
CHAIR OLSON particularly commended the efforts of his aide,
Konrad Jackson, and the sponsor's staff, Christopher Clark.
4:03:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON asked whether he is sure the pharmacists
do not want the auditors to use extrapolation. He said it seems
to him that the pharmacists will just be subject to more and
more audits without extrapolation being used. He predicted that
the pharmacists are not going to like this.
DR. CHRISTENSEN said, "Yes we are." He elaborated that most of
the pharmacists believe that they do an incredible job
scrutinizing prescriptions and do their best. The auditors lead
them to believe by virtue of extrapolation that they make lots
of errors; however, the pharmacists disagree and would rather be
judged on what they do and not on what they might have done,
which is extrapolation. He pointed out that most other states
that have passed similar legislation regarding extrapolation,
agree with the pharmacists, but he appreciated Representative
Johnson's concerns.
REPRESENTATIVE JOHNSON reiterated that not allowing
extrapolation will increase the number of audits. He
characterized the tradeoff as deciding between more audits or
extrapolating the fines and fees.
4:05:11 PM
TOM HODEL, Pharmacist and Owner, Soldotna Professional Pharmacy,
stated he is in his 28th year of business and is celebrating the
pharmacy's anniversary this week. He said he concurs with Mr.
Christensen that pharmacists do not like extrapolation. He
disagreed that the bill would lead to more audits. He
reiterated his earlier testimony, such that his pharmacy
underwent an audit in which the auditor used extrapolation. He
said he did not think it was very fair so hired a lawyer and
fought it. He ended up reaching a compromise. He highlighted
that auditors questioned 4 of 100 claims, of which 3 were
clerical errors. The audit resulted in one $48 claim and by
using extrapolation resulted in an attempt to charge them over
$7,500. He finally settled for $4,000, after two appeals. He
said, "I certainly do not like extrapolation process."
[HB 259 was held over.]