Amendment #13 to H3944

Partial Fill Prescribing Method Advisory Commission

Representatives Dooley of Norfolk and Jones of North Reading move to amend the bill by inserting at the end thereof the following new section:-

“SECTION XX. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be a special commission, known as the Partial Fill Prescribing Method Advisory Commission, to investigate the feasibility of implementing a partial fill method of prescribing narcotics to patients which would enable patients to fill a prescription in increments, depending on their needs, and to exempt patients from paying any additional copayments to fill the remainder of their prescription. The intent of this legislation is to limit the amount of narcotics dispensed and, consequently, the amount of excess narcotics left over in households, thus reducing the amount of prescription drug abuse by those who have access to this excess medication.

The commission shall consist of the secretary of the executive office of Health and Human Services, or his designee; the commissioner of the Department of Public Health, or his designee; the president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, or his designee; 1 representative of a health consumer organization appointed by the attorney general; Director of Medicaid or his designee; Director of the Board of Registration in Medicine, or his designee; Director of the Board of Registration in Dentistry, or his designee; Director of the Board of Registration in Pharmacy, or his designee; 1 member of the senate to be appointed by the senate president, 1 member of the senate to be appointed by the senate minority leader; 1 member of the house of representatives to be appointed by the speaker of the house; 1 member of the house of representatives appointed by the house minority leader.

The scope of the commission shall include, but not be limited to, studying (i) the feasibility of creating and administering this new process for writing and filling prescriptions and how this method of prescribing medication would be implemented for all types of narcotics, dosages and diagnoses, (ii) the feasibility of integrating this method of filling prescriptions into the processing of pharmacy claims by public and private health insurance entities, (iii) the ability of this method to effectively reduce the amount of excess prescription narcotics available to be abused by those who do not have a prescription and have no medical need to take said medication.

The commission shall submit its findings, along with any draft of legislation, to the joint committee on public health, the joint committee on health care financing, the joint committee of mental health and substance abuse and the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate on or before June 1, 2016.".