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Rep. DeWitt pushes bill to define long-term care pharmacies in Louisiana law
Summary
House Health and Welfare committee advanced HB 557, a bill from Rep. DeWitt that would define "long-term care pharmacy" in state law to align with federal requirements and prevent misclassification of pharmacies that serve nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.
BATON ROUGE — The House Committee on Health and Welfare on March 24 advanced House Bill 557, a measure from Rep. DeWitt to define "long-term care pharmacy" in Louisiana law.
DeWitt told the committee the bill is intended to align state law with federal rules that already recognize the different services provided by pharmacies serving nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and rehabilitation centers. "Right now, we treat these pharmacies the same as a retail pharmacy on paper, but in the real world, they're not the same," DeWitt said. The bill does not set reimbursement rates or mandate contract terms, she said; it simply creates a statutory definition so pharmacies are not misclassified when dealing with PBMs and other payers.
Sam Mahfouz, managing partner of LTC Pharmacy Management, testified in support. "We service about 60 percent of the long-term care patients in the state of Louisiana. We deliver 365 days, 7 days a week to all those patients every day," Mahfouz said, describing closed-door packaging, 24-hour emergency access and direct coordination with facility staff as routine parts of long-term care pharmacy operations.
Members asked whether the bill affects insurance or Medicaid; DeWitt said it does not change insurance rules and is limited to providing a clear statutory definition. Staff presented a technical amendment (committee set 2185) to reference a federal classification code; the author offered the amendment and the committee adopted it.
Rep. Fisher moved to report the bill favorably with amendments; there were no objections and the chair announced that HB 557 would move favorably from committee.
The bill's next step is the full House calendar, where sponsors and staff said it will be considered with the committee-adopted amendment.
