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Panel advances bill to require MA payment for pharmacist-provided services
Summary
House File 2,909 would make Medical Assistance pay pharmacists and supervised pharmacy technicians for health services performed within their scope of practice, matching recent commercial insurer changes; committee adopted a technical A1 amendment and laid the bill over.
Representative Bonner presented House File 2,909 to require Medical Assistance (MA) coverage and payment for a range of health services performed by credentialed pharmacists and supervised pharmacy technicians under their scope of practice.
Dr. Sarah Westberg, a pharmacist and associate dean at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, testified for the Minnesota Pharmacy Alliance, describing pharmacists’ expanded scope—test-and-treat services, vaccine and medication administration, chronic disease management and contraceptive prescribing—and urging MA payment parity for services already covered in the commercial market.
Representative Bonner said last year’s legislation extended coverage for commercially insured patients and this bill would close the gap for MA and MinnesotaCare patients. Members asked about fiscal magnitude; Representative Bonner said the last fiscal note was about $4.5 million and that a new fiscal note had been requested and might change.
The committee adopted an A1 technical amendment (clarifying that services are performed by pharmacists, not pharmacies) and laid the bill over for possible inclusion; DHS fiscal scoring was requested.
Action taken: A1 amendment adopted; bill laid over for possible inclusion; fiscal note requested.
