September 28, 2007

Tamper-Proof Prescription Mandate for Medicaid May Be Delayed

Bill Awaiting President Bush’s Signature

The U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have voted to delay the implementation of the tamper-proof prescription pad requirement for Medicaid prescriptions, which is scheduled to go into effect Monday, October 1st.  The legislation that passed both houses of Congress delays the implementation until March 31, 2008.  Before the delay is official, it must be signed into law by President Bush.

APA would like to thank all of Arkansas’ Congressional Delegation (Rep. Berry, Rep. Boozman, Rep. Ross, Rep. Snyder, Sen. Lincoln, and Sen. Pryor).  In addition, we would like to provide additional thanks to Representatives Berry and Ross, who along with Representative Charlie Wilson (D-OH), helped to guide this measure through the legislative process.

Additional information on this issue will be sent as it becomes available.

NPI Registry Experiencing Downtime,

Downloadable File Still Available

The web-based NPI Registry has been unavailable on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website this week.  APA has contacted CMS and has been told that the Registry has had some technical problems and should be available again next week.  As a reminder, a link to the NPI Registry is located on the APA Webpage, www.arpharmacists.org.

In addition, a downloadable file containing all of the NPI data is now available.  The file is very large (260MB), so you should only attempt to download it if you have a high-speed internet connection.  The file may be downloaded at http://nppesdata.cms.hhs.gov/cms_NPI_files.html .

Spa, Shopping, and CE Weekend – November 9th – 11th

The Arkansas Pharmacy Foundation will be hosting a continuing education weekend November 9th – 11th at the Chateau on the Lake in Branson, Missouri.  The program will feature six hours of live CE focused on women’s health issues.  In addition, there will be plenty of time in the schedule to enjoy a relaxing spa treatment or to get an early start on your Christmas shopping.  Don’t miss this great opportunity to catch up on your CE and to enjoy a relaxing weekend in Branson.  Call the APA office at 501-372-5250 to register today!