SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1095        FILED ON: 1/18/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1369

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Paul R. Feeney

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to establish a pilot program for specialty pharmacy in urology.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1095        FILED ON: 1/18/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1369

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 2894 OF 2021-2022.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act to establish a pilot program for specialty pharmacy in urology.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

(a) The department of public health and the board of pharmacy shall jointly develop a pilot program to allow urology providers in private practice to operate specialty practice pharmacies in an effort to expand patient access to medications for urological conditions.

(b) The department of public health, in consultation with the board of pharmacy, shall determine the criteria for participation in the program, including the number of practices that may participate; provided that a practice must accept MassHealth patients to qualify for participation in the program. The department may conduct a listening session or other public process to receive input from interested parties regarding the criteria and other aspects of the program.

(c) Each specialty practice pharmacy program shall be operated by a urology practice and shall be staffed as needed to provide appropriate high-quality care, under protocols for pharmaceutical services, specific medications to be offered, and staffing requirements to be developed by the department of public health and the board of pharmacy.

(d) The department of public health shall issue a request for proposals for qualified urology practices to submit proposals to become a provider of pharmaceutical services under this section; provided, that proposals must be submitted and providers selected within 6 months of the date of enactment of this act. In selecting participants for the program, the department and the board of pharmacy shall consider each applicant’s patient payer mix, patient population demographics, organization structure and size, and region of service, in an effort to promote more direct and equitable access to urological medication in underserved populations. The department and the board should prioritize applicants that can provide high quality pharmaceutical services and that address barriers that contribute to inequities in urological pharmaceutical care, including among gender, race, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, social stigma and other social determinants of health.

(e) The pilot program shall be conducted for 2 years. Before the completion of 2 years of operation, the department of public health and the board of pharmacy shall evaluate the results of the pilot as they relate to patient access to medication, patient costs, patient adherence to medication, and additional pharmaceutical indicators. The results of the evaluation shall be provided to the joint committee on public health and posted on the website of the department. The department and the board may renew the pilot program for a second 2-year period if they determine, based on the evaluation, that it is in the public interest to continue the program.