Capitol Pulse Header
CPhA's Weekly Legislative Briefing
July 15, 2014


Welcome to this week's issue of the Capitol Pulse.
TOP STORY

Number of Medi-Cal Physicians Down by 25% in Spring 2014

Nearly 25 percent fewer physicians were signed up to treat low-income patients in the state's insurance program this spring compared to a year prior, despite the surge in patients enrolled in Medi-Cal. The drop in providers is due to the Department of Health Care Services' efforts to remove doctors who haven't complied with application requirements or billed the program in a year. Read more...

 

Board of Pharmacy Update:

ACP Analyzing Sterile Compounding Regulations

The Board of Pharmacy recently released draft regulations for sterile compounding.  The Academy of Compounding Pharmacists Board is appointing a working group consisting of sterile compounders in community and institutional settings to analyze and provide written comments on these during the state rulemaking process.

 

Other Pharmacy-Related News
Drug Makers Push Back in Court on Take-Back Law

Alameda County's trailblazing drug take-back law is an unnecessary burden that may increase the risk of unused medicines ending up in the environment or unintended hands, the drug industry said in arguing for an appeals court to help strike down the law.  Read more...

 
Anthem Accused of 'Fraudulent' Enrollment Practices

California insurance giant Anthem Blue Cross misled "millions of enrollees" about whether their doctors and hospitals were participating in its new plans, and failed to disclose that many policies wouldn't cover care outside its approved network, according to a class action lawsuit filed. Read more...

 

Judge Delays Duals Injunction Decision

A California Superior Court hearing last week in Sacramento -- to determine whether or not to issue an injunction to stop the state's duals demonstration project -- came to a quick end, before it even really started. Read more...

  

Are 'Narrow Networks' a Speed Bump, or a Scandal?

Complaints about the "narrow networks" in the Affordable Care Act's exchanges have taken a sharp turn, with regulators launching investigations and patients filing lawsuits. Are these simply rollout-related challenges, or are deeper problems to blame?  Read more...

 

Two big election battles shaping up this fall are over ballot measures that might not immediately stand out to voters: Proposition 45, which would give the state insurance commissioner regulatory power over health insurance rates, and Proposition 46, which would require drug and alcohol testing of doctors and raise the cap on pain-and-suffering damages in medical malpractice cases. Read more...

 

Free-Speech, Safety Issues in 'Off-Label' Drug Marketing

Prompted in part by recent federal court decisions, the FDA is reviewing its rules on what kind of data drug companies should be allowed to distribute to doctors regarding off-label uses, as well as how they should respond to unsolicited questions from physicians about those uses. Read more...

Heroin Major Focus of New WH Drug Strategy
The White House on Wednesday rolled out a 2014 drug control strategy that targets the growing scourges of heroin and prescription drug abuse, while placing a premium on treatment programs over incarceration for offenders. Read more...

Connect with Us!
Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter View our profile on LinkedIn
 

Connect

 

Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter  View our profile on LinkedIn 


CPh-PAC

Donate Today! 

PAC logo

PDF

Donate Today!  

 

PDFC
Helpful Links

CPhA Grassroots Action Center 

 

CPhA Current Legislation

 

Find Your Legislator  

 

CA State Assembly    

 

CA State Senate

 

Current Legislation Index 

 

California State Board of Pharmacy

 

Gov. Jerry Brown 

 

 

Upcoming Events

EdNet: All About SB 493

August 16

San Francisco, CA

 

EdNet: All About SB 493

August 23

Los Angeles, CA

 

Academies Weekend

September 27-28

Orange, CA

Save the dates!

 

Leadership Weekend

November 8-9

Monterey, CA

Save the dates!

 

Contact CPhA

 www.cpha.com

[email protected]

(916) 779-1400 phone

(916) 779-1401 fax